AT2
by Nano-klik
Summary: G1 cartoon/IDWverse AU. Hound and a small groups of 'bots under his command get sent on seems to be a simple rescue mission but what they find isn't exactly what anyone expected. Slight implied Hound/Sideswipe if you squint. Poss. Spoilers for IDWverse.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Mainly based loosely between G1 cartoon and IDW continuity, but also anything else I felt like throwing in there, this is essentially a post-war AU I suppose. This is my nano attempt for this year so sorry for any inconsistencies. I'm trying to edit more obvious mistakes as I go along, but I'm going to miss a lot of them and some I'm not going to have time until I've finished it.

Transformers belong to Hasbro.

It'd been a while since he'd seen the wide city state streets of Iacon. He'd been off planet for so long now that the metallic gleam of his homeworld felt almost alien now. Hound found the building he was looking for and stepped inside. Cybertron had changed much since he'd last seen it; the devastated husks of buildings and bodies of Cybertronians were gone, replaced by towers, homes and busy streets.

He approached the door with a slight trepidation. How long had it been since he'd last seen Prime? Though Optimus wasn't as inaccessible as some of his predecessors or the members of the senate, he was still not seen by lower orders frequently. Not that Hound had tried to gain an audience; on the contrary, his presence had been requested by Prime.

Thoughts of what he could possibly be wanted for circled in his mind. Prime hadn't given any more information than stress that time was an important factor. The door opened automatically as he neared, admitting him to the spacious room beyond.

His optics automatically scanned the room, taking note of its lack of other occupants as he was warmly greeted by Optimus.

"Thank you, Hound. Your quick response is appreciated."

Hound shook the outstretched hand offered to him. "No problem, Prime. It sounded urgent." He took the seat gestured to him and patiently waited for Prime to speak.

"I'm going to come straight to the point. I need your help."

"My help?" The concern in Prime's optics did little to help alleviate the initial trepidation, it heightened it. Something was wrong.

"We lost contact with the scout ship, the Anaxagorus, in the Algol System two deca-cycles ago. The last communication we received from them contained an incomplete data file on what appears to be a small derelict ship on Algol Three's second moon." Optimus handed Hound a small data pad. "We believe from the communication that an geomagnetic storm knocked out some of the ships systems, forcing the crew to crash land somewhere in the Algol system. Probably on one of her moons or on Algol Three itself."

Hound looked at the data pad, taking in the information on the lost ship's schematics, mission, crew and cargo. "This is a rescue mission then?"

"I hope so, Hound. " Prime softly shook his head. "Which just leaves the question, will you go? I know you left the military ranks, but when..."

"You know I will, Prime. Jetfire's a good 'bot. If he's out there, I'll find him."

"Thank you. I've assembled a small team to accompany you."

On those words the door opened admitting Hound's team members into the room. Hound's reaction to seeing Perceptor again after all this time was one of warmth. On the other hand, Hound internally groaned when he saw the flash of red that emerged from behind Perceptor. Sideswipe.

His first impressions of Sideswipe had, on serving with him, been turned around. However, this didn't mean he didn't think the 'bot wasn't a pain in the aft to work with. He was greeted with a handshake from Perceptor.

"Hoist is waiting for us at the spaceport. I have determined the probable trajectory of the Anaxagorus' flight path based on the little information we have received. I surmise that following that trajectory would lead to having most likely caused them to crash on the far side of Algol Three's largest moon. Providing they haven't sustained a significant hull breach then the ship should withstand the moon's violent storms for up to and possibly exceeding half a stellar cycle, though if there is substantial damage, what remains of the hull will only provide them adequate protection in the very short term."

Hound smiled. "Good to see you too, Perceptor." He turned and nodded acknowledgement towards the other newcomer, who looked bored. "Sideswipe." He received back and equally short greeting.

Perceptor turned to Prime. "Time is of the essence, Optimus. So now our final party member has joined us I would suggest we embark immediately. Jetfire may not be able to wait much longer."

Optimus nodded. "Report to me as soon as you know anything, and good luck." He turned back to Hound. "Perceptor will bring you up to date with everything."

Taking his leave, Hound followed the other two out of the door down into the streets of Iacon to a waiting transport. As they travelled to the space port to meet Hoist and board their designated ship, Perceptor filled in the gaps. "I presume Optimus has filled you in on the basics what has happened and what we know so far?"

"Yes."

"In that case, I can fill you in on the more sensitive information now. The Algol System is located ...... from Cybertron. Initially forays into the system yielded little of interest and is inhospitable in the extreme."

Even though he'd not seen it for a long time, Hound recognised the particular look that Perceptor's optics got whenever he launched into one of his long winded lectures. He shifted slightly to get comfortable and envied Sideswipe's lucky escape in the control cab of the transport. Though if there was sensitive information he needed to know, it explained the transport rather than getting there under their own steam. He forced himself to concentrate on what Perceptor was telling him, though it was hard when the 'bot used fifteen words to explain what five could adequately cover.

"...shortly after Jetfire, Skids and I set up the new Cooperative Science Institute in Praxus a small unmanned surveyor craft was sent out. Before the war we used to send them out regularly; standard procedure. So we started up again.

"This one had been out, transmitting data back to the institute for just over half a vorn, showing nothing out of the ordinary until it reached the Algol System. The readings that were sent back on the scan of Algol Three's moon had a shadow. Obviously we analysed all the data to determine what was the cause. We could find no obvious answer, so we looked beyond the possibilities of atmospheric or geological conditions. Every observational method we could think of yielded no concrete results. It was therefore concluded that we should send a small team with an adequately equipped scientific vessel to investigate.

"Jetfire and Skids were given permission by the Science Council to continue investigating the anomaly." Perceptor paused, as if he was scanning the small transport in case their security was compromised. He started to speak again. "From the limited data that Jetfire could send back before they disappeared, it would appear they indeed did find a ship."

"Prime mentioned it," Hound said. "Though I was told it was derelict."

"Ah, that's where Optimus was not entirely accurate. It's purely in the interests of security you were told that originally. The only way we were able to discover what the ship was at all was with direct visual contact. The ship is seemingly abandoned, or at least all attempts to establish contact have so far failed. What's so interesting is that we have no instruments of any kind that can register it exists beyond a vague shadow.

"To be honest, if it wasn't for Skids seeing a pattern in the what appeared to be random energy shifts surrounding it, I would have passed it over as being just some kind of weather front. Algol Three's moons have an atmosphere similar to Algol Three itself and have inclement weather to say the least.

"It's fascinating as it would seem the ship has shields beyond our capabilities. I'm excited by the prospect of possibly getting to study them further."

Hound smiled to himself. "You may get a chance. Finding Jetfire and Skids is our first priority."

"Yes, yes. Of course." Perceptor looked mortified that any one would think he though otherwise.

Hound laughed at Perceptor's expression. "Don't worry, I know what you mean." In all the years he'd known Preceptor, the only way he'd not have learnt Perceptor's habit of getting totally immersed in his work to the exclusion of all else would have been to spend the last at least six million years in stasis lock.

The vessel they'd been assigned was a small but capable ship, the Secutor. A well armoured attack vessel from the war that was modified and still in service. On arrival they were told be a 'port worker that Hoist was already aboard and waiting for them. Walking onto the ship's small bridge, they were greeting warmly. "Hound! It's been a while." Hoist grabbed his hand and shook it enthusiastically.

"It's good to see you again, Hoist. It's been too long."

"Well, you will spend your time on a completely different planet from the rest of us." He laughed. "How is Earth these days anyway?"

"Same as ever, still the mudball it's always been."

Sideswipe pushed past them, taking his place at the helm. "I don't know if you noticed, but we've got to get this rustbucket underway. We're not here for a social."

Hoist nudged Hound good naturedly. "Still in love with the place then." He took his place on the bridge. "Well, Sideswipe's got a point. Let's get moving."

Hound took the central command seat when gestured to it by Perceptor. "It's your mission, Hound."

Even at transwarp, the journey wasn't quick. Hound had spent the time acquainting himself with the ships capabilities and the conditions of the Algol system. He was worried about Jetfire and Skids. Were they injured? How much damage had their ship taken and could it protect them? Were they even alive?

Hound attempted to distract himself from contemplating the worst by spending as much time with his team mates as possible. Despite their differences, he spent quite some time with Sideswipe more than the other two. Hound had come to the conclusion that under the circumstances, getting used to a less relaxed atmosphere and way of working was a practical approach. Out of all of them, Sideswipe seemed to retain more military habits

Sideswipe reminded him of this on a daily basis, which mildly irked him. He wasn't sure whether to give Sideswipe the benefit of the doubt and appreciate what he was trying to do, or be irritated with him for taking a constant dig every day. It was coming out of recharge into the second mega cycle they'd been travelling that Sideswipe finally confronted him as he was leaving the small crew chamber.

"How long's it been since you last had to give or follow orders?"

Hound turned to face him. "What do you mean?"

Sideswipe looked like he was going to sigh. Instead he almost glared straight at Hound's optics. "Look, I know I was a glitch in the cerebro's the last time we served together, and though I never said it, you made a pretty good commander. But how long's it been since you lead an operation?"

"Obviously not recently enough if your comments are anything to go by."

If there was an edge to Hound's voice, it was so faint that Sideswipe didn't notice it. "I'm not saying you're not up to the job, Hound. I know you are, and if Optimus believes you're the best for the job then I'm not going to argue." He grinned. "Well, not too much anyway." The smile disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. "What I'm saying is, is that I've got concerns to the smooth running of this mission."

Hound did sigh, then realised as Sideswipe looked at him like he'd just turned blue, that he'd spent so much time around humans he was picking up their body language; as much as a mech could. "Do you think you could do a better job?" There was no sarcastic tone, just a genuinely honest question.

"To be honest? In some ways no, in others, yes. But this is your call. I can't make it for you. I'm just concerned that so much time spent as a civilian, and not even on Cybertron, may have 'compromised your efficiency' as Perceptor put it."

The ship took that moment to shake slightly causing Hound to brace himself against the wall to regain his footing. Sideswipe just used Hound's shoulder as the nearest available hand hold. The shaking eased enough for them to stand straight, so Hound took off in the direction of the bridge with Sideswipe hot on his heels.

"Report." Hound barked as he stepped onto the bridge.

Perceptor turned to answer. "Nothing serious, a minor collision with a small asteroid that seemed to come out of nowhere. However, our sensors should have picked it up so I'm running a diagnostic to ascertain if there is a problem with them and Hoist is making repairs to the minor damage we took."

"Good." Hound paused for a moment. "Perceptor, once you've finished with your diagnostics, can I speak with you?"

Perceptor nodded. "Of course. I am at your disposal as soon as I'm finished here."

"Thank you." Hound took his seat and turned his head as he noticed Sideswipe on the bridge standing near him. "I thought you were off to recharge?"

Sideswipe shrugged. "I'll get there when I get there."

"Then go now. I need my crew at their peak, we don't know what we might find." Hound turned to look back at the viewscreen in front of him.

"Looks like someone's picking up old habits fast. Needn't of worried about you not being able to give orders." Sideswipe muttered as he stomped off the bridge.


	2. Chapter 2

The repairs went smoothly, Perceptor had found no sign of malfunction with the sensors so it had been written off as a one off dip in sensor efficiency. All was noted in the report Hound prepared to transmit back to Optimus Prime, and given no further thought to. Hound was back to planning out the most efficient search pattern with the information Perceptor had given him on the system. The scout ship wasn't large enough to afford separate quarters and as there was nothing in the crew chamber except individual recharge chambers. The only place on the ship affording him room to work was the small recreation room which would have been crowded if they'd all been in there at once.

Hound had been working without break for longer than he cared to remember. The Algol System was a binary system and the solar activity was high, giving rise to increased solar flares which meant the interference to electrical and radio equipment and communication was quite high. Hound was also aware of his own vulnerability to electromagnetic interference, which meant when he wasn't working or in recharge, he was working with Perceptor and Hoist in tweaking his own systems to cope with the increased electromagnetic waves.

Hound sat back and shut off his optics, giving himself a breem to organise his thoughts. The sound of the door opening made him cut off his quick respite and bring his optics back online.

"Sorry to disturb you, Hound."

Hound straightened himself up. "It's okay, Hoist. I wasn't exactly resting."

Hoist sat down opposite. "Sideswipe's informed me we'll be at the Algol system in approximately three breems. We'll begin a sensor scan of the system, try to pick up some kind of trace of the Anaxagorus. Though after this length of time I doubt there will be much to pick up."

Hound had expected to feel a certain amount of trepidation on reaching the Algol system as this was where the real work started. But instead he found himself feeling relieved. He was concerned for Jetfire and Skids. The time he'd taken to get here was just more time he felt he couldn't afford to lose. "Thanks for letting me know. I'll go and programme in the scanning pattern and set the autopilot to follow the flight path. Tell Perceptor I'll need him to keep monitoring the sensors and sensor diagnostics. Sideswipe I'll need at the helm to override the autopilot should it become necessary."

"That leaves us."

"It does. I need your help to make a few modifications to the small shuttle. One we've got a lock on the crash site, I want us to take the shuttle down and scout the area, treat any casualties and start affecting repairs."

They left the recreation room, Hound feeling better than he had done for days. Maybe Sideswipe confronting him had helped. Hound was not one for a crisis crash, but he felt when it came to command of a team, he was certainly a little rusty. The shuttle was just about big enough for two medium sized 'bots. The small bay it was crammed into was barely enough room for them to work in, but then their vessel had been designed for war, not comfort. Hound had recognised the class of vessel as soon as he'd seen it. A small ship used for short range attacks and planetary defence. Not a lot of use for a rescue mission in some ways, but chosen for the strength of it's hull shielding. The solar wind of the Algol system was not to be taken lightly.

Hound left Hoist working on the shuttle while he temporarily left to programme in the scanning pattern and programme the autopilot then returned to help Hoist finish up the work on the sensors and shuttle's shields.

"Finished up here. Are you ready?"

Hound looked up from the small console he was working at. "Very nearly. Just a few nano-klicks. There." He closed the small access port and pressed a few buttons in sequence. "Now we need to see if the main scan will turn up anything."

They returned back to the bridge. Sideswipe instantly updated them. "Perceptor hasn't managed to isolate any trail that could lead to the Anaxagorus but on our second sweep of AT2 we not only picked up the 'shadow' of that ship, but we think we've located what could be the Anaxagorus."

Hound looked hopeful. To find them this quick was more than he could have asked for. "Any idea of the ship's condition?"

"We've only just picked it up on scanners. I can give you better readings but only if I take the ship down below the ionosphere."

"Leave it," Hound said. "Me and Hoist will take the shuttle down to take a closer look. There's no point risking the entire team on trying to land possibly blind." He turned to Perceptor. "How's it looking out there?"

Perceptor double checked his readings. The sensors appear to be functioning within acceptable parameters, and the solar activity is currently low, but how long this will last I cannot say right at this moment. I will need to observe the stars for longer before I could give an accurate prediction of the next likely increase."

"How about a best guess?" Hound asked.

"Guess? Oh. With the little information I have currently, I would hypothesise the next significant increase in solar activity will be approximately twenty four cycles, with a margin of error of about a mega cycle. Without more detailed information, I can't be any more accurate."

"Thanks, Perceptor." He nodded to Hoist then turned his head to look back at the other two as he was leaving. "Watch the front and we'll contact you as soon as we've got anything."

After Hound had left, Sideswipe complained to Perceptor. "I should be going down there with Hound."

"Why? Do you not think Hoist is a capable partner?"

"We're in a system we barely know, investigating a crash site we have no idea how it was caused, trying to find a missing science team. As I'm here as security and being the big guns in case of running into something unexpected, you'd think Mr 'I can find a laser diode in a slag pile' would have the mental circuitry to work out that maybe he should have taken me with him first."

Perceptor turned back to his readouts. "You could have just told him you're bored. However I feel he probably would have disregarded your personal feelings as he would have come to the very accurate conclusion that he can handle danger himself quite well and you are far more qualified to fly this ship in adverse conditions than the rest of us. Therefore it makes sense to leave you here."

Sideswipe narrowed his optics in bored annoyance and went back to watching the tedium that was the autopilot.

The shuttle was cramped, but the descent down to Algol's moon, AT2, had been smoother than expected with no interference of communications or instrumentation. Hound pointed toward a large escarpment to the south. "Focus a sensor scan over there, I'm picking up faint energy readings."

"I think we've got them." Hoist smiled.

Hound piloted the shuttle, covering the distance quickly. At the base of the escarpment, they landed and disembarked. The wind was strong but not unbearably so, though the dust it whipped up was gritty and uncomfortable. "There it is!" Hound transformed and set out, with Hoist close behind him.

The Anaxagorus lay crumpled at the end of a trail where its impact path had chewed a deep scar across the landscape. The sudden rise of the land was what had brought the ship to a sudden halt, crumpling the front end. Hound and Hoist hurried to find a safe access to the ship, making note of the ship's hull damage as they searched. "The wind's picking up!" Hoist called.

"We need to get inside for cover." Hound called back, as a stronger gust of wind picked up a larger lump of grit, nicking the armour on his arm with the sheer speed of it. "I've found it!" He wrenched the jammed door to one side, helping Hoist inside as he joined him, then pulled himself up into the raised opening and jamming it shut behind him as best he could.

The inside of the ship was a mess. Data pads spread about by the impact, loose wiring coming from open access panels and damaged console lights flashing. The emergency lighting was dim, with the main lighting flashing intermittently and weak. "Jetfire? Skids?" Hound called out, following one of the access doors into the walkway beyond and signalling for Hoist to follow him.

They were greeted with more of the same, damage and disorder everywhere, but no signs of any life. After they had thoroughly checked the whole ship, with no sign of anyone on board, they returned to the main bridge. "We need to know what's happened here." Hound said as he started pressing buttons on the largest console. His initial concern for the two scientists had jumped up a few notches and dismay set in as the console proved unresponsive.

Hoist got to work on the console, attempting to patch it up enough to get any information it might contain. "We've possibly got another problem, Hound."

Hound crouched down to Hoist's level to look at the wiring.

"Look." Hoist held out the end of a small wire, neatly severed and not showing the same scorched, ragged damage typical of the rest of the damage to the ship.

"What does it run to?"

"The auto-distress beacon."

Hound silently cursed. This implied a bigger problem than initially believed.

Hound helped Hoist get the main bridge's power running and the console working again. It was less than optimal, but sufficed for the immediate needs. "Can we get a reading on how the hull's holding up?"

"Surprisingly well, considering the damage to her front. And considering the damage taken from the elements due to the shielding being down."

"That's good news, at least." Hound felt a tightness in the connective cables in his neck and stretched them reflexively. "Can we get the shielding back up?"

"By the looks of it we can, but I'm going to need Perceptor down here ideally."

"I'll have a look at getting the communications up, save me having to risk a trip back to the shuttle with the weather as bad as it is. But we'll have to wait a while, as I don't want them risking a landing in this. In the meantime, we need to locate the data recorder. We need to find some clue, any clue, as to what's happened to Jetfire and Skids."

The communications had proved easy to get back online much to Hound's relief. Hoist had found the ships data recorder and was trying to piece together the damaged and fragmented data in the hope it would give them something to go on. Some hours later, Hoist came up to the maintenance access Hound was half buried under looking frustrated. Seeing his feet Hound pulled himself out of the mass of wires he was working on and stood up. Seeing the look on Hoist's face told him most of what he needed to know. "Nothing of any use?"

"No. I'm not ready to give up yet but I've got nothing so far. The most I can get from it, is nothing we couldn't have worked out ourselves." Hoist moved over to a chair and sat down. "They were hit by a geomagnetic storm which was powerful enough to knock out a lot of systems ship wide, which is what got them here in the first place. After ascertaining the damage to the ship they sent out a distress signal, which it seems they thought they might got an answer to judging by Skids' log, but it turned out to be interference. At some point after that I would imagine, came the cutting of the cable to the distress signal and their subsequent disappearance."

"So we're no closer to finding them now than we were before."

"Not really. I'm sure once we can get Perceptor and Sideswipe down here, we can start making some progress." Hoist said, keeping his tone upbeat.

"Once we can get them here and it's safer to go out for short periods, I'll scout the area. I think the ship on the other side of the this moon is a good place to start.

"I want us to be as prepared as possible, we don't know what, if anything, we could be up against and the natural elements are against us." Hound leant uncomfortable against the wall.

"Speaking of being prepared," Hoist said as he looked at the nick in Hound's arm. "Let's patch that up for starters."

It took another eighteen cycles before the weather had quietened enough for Sideswipe to attempt a landing. He touched down as close as he could get to the Anaxagorus. They were greeted by Hound. "We've got a lot of work to do and I'll fill you in on what's happening but first things first, Sideswipe, I need you to pilot the shuttle back into the Secutor. I'll open the bay doors. But be quick, the wind's picking up again."

Sideswipe transformed and drove off in the direction of the shuttle. Hound boarded the Secutor with Perceptor following behind. "What is it, Perceptor?" Hound asked when he'd reached the bridge, activating the bay doors for the fast approaching Sideswipe.

"The landing went smoothly, but I felt I should warn you that there has been a significant increase in solar activity, much sooner than I anticipated. Which means that we've a distinct possibility of having most of our systems in danger of damage."

Hound closed the bay doors at the signal the shuttle had boarded. "This is not what we need. Perceptor, work with Hoist to find a way of protecting our equipment and the ships. If they're knocked out we've got even less chance of finding Skids and Jetfire any time soon."

Perceptor nodded. "I'll get on to it. I think the first thing to do would be to find a way of utilising the resources of both ships, if we can find a way to link them up together then we…"

"I don't care how you do it, Perceptor. Just do it."

"Yes, of course." Perceptor left to join up with Hoist just as Sideswipe joined Hound on the bridge.

"Shuttle present and accounted for. Now what'da we do?"

"Not much, Sideswipe." He brought Sideswipe up to date on what they had so far, which wasn't much.

"Then why don't we get over there, bust that ship wide open and see if our guys are in there?"

"How? We can't detect it on any instruments we have, so we've no idea what kind of technology it has, or possible danger to us it could pose. We don't even know if it's connected to the disappearance of the team." He paused, attempted to get the tightness out of his neck again and gave up. "Also, we've the problem of how do we get over there? Its the other side of the moon. What do you reckon your chances are of making it over there in one piece?"

"That's what the shuttle's for."

"So you want to fly an unarmed shuttle into possible hostile territory? Look I know it's not your idea of fun, but if they're alive somewhere we're not going to help them by getting ourselves into stasis lock or worse." Hound felt there was every chance that tight feeling in his neck was in for the long haul at this rate.

After taking a chance to recharge, Hound left Sideswipe with Perceptor and Hoist and took a chance to get a layout of the surrounding area. The moon supported no life, there was little in the way of protection from the wind that howled constantly, they were already in the most protected place they had found and the dust was sharp. Hound had to limit the time he could scout and even then he arrived back at ship with his armour plating covered in scratches. This is nothing compared to the dust particles that got in everywhere, cleaning it out had been a long and uncomfortable experience.

When he felt somewhere near like himself again, he joined the others. They had for the time being taken up residence aboard the Anaxagorus, with the constant repair work and it being the larger vessel. Meeting the team on the bridge he asked for an update on their status.

"Perceptor believes that we can connect the two ships together giving us more energy. We can then get the shields functioning at full capacity for longer should we need it," Hoist said, gesturing for Perceptor to take up where he'd left off.

"We've also been working on ways of modifying the shielding so we are better protected from the electromagnetic interference."

"Great, but as you know we've got two 'bots out there who are relying on us to get them back home. . Where do we start looking? I need some answers here." Hound was happy with what they'd achieved so far, it'd been no mean feat, but he needed more from them, and himself. "Reconvene in the lab in two kliks, we need a better plan."

"We need any plan at all." Sideswipe grumbled as he headed in the direction of the lab.

Hound turned to Hoist. "First plan is to shut off his vocal processor." He pointed a thumb in the direction Sideswipe had gone.

Hoist laughed. "Failing that we'd better come up with a plan to keep our impetuous friend very busy."

As they walked in the direction of the science lab, leaving Perceptor to finish up his work, Sideswipe's voice rang out. "I heard that!"

Hound laughed. As serious as their mission was, he'd learnt during all those years at war, that even in the most urgent of times, there needed to be a place for humour.


	3. Chapter 3

Perceptor joined them holding in his hands a small box. Hound recognised the distinctive grey casing, the data recorder. He hoped that Perceptor had managed to wrangle some information from it.

They all stood around the central table. Hound projected a topographical hologram of the surrounding area. "There's not much to go on, but the terrain out there isn't difficult to traverse by what I've seen so far. The difficulty is the dust kicked up by the wind. I wasn't out there for long, but it still caused minor injuries. We can't get any real distance from the ship without taking significant damage." He shut the hologram off.

Perceptor placed the box on the table. "I've managed to restore some of the data contained in the recorder. However, I'm afraid the news isn't good."

"Any news at all is a start," Hound said.

Perceptor continued. "It would seem that Jetfire and Skids' followed standard protocols once they'd crashed. Jetfire took minor damage, Skids' was left with slightly more lasting injuries but was still functional.

"There's a break in the data, but then Jetfire reports that they start detecting strange readings outside. Nothing substantial, more like something was there, invisible except for the effect it had on its immediate environment. Sometimes they'd get something like the 'shadow', similar to the ship they found. Three orns after they reported a 'shadow', Skids' reports he cannot find Jetfire. Shortly after this there's nothing."

A silence descended over the group as what they had just been told sunk in. Hoist broke the short silence. "There's a chance they're still alive. We haven't got any evidence to the contrary."

"There's no sign anywhere on the ship of any fight. No carbon scoring, nothing." Sideswipe informed them. "I thought it was always a possibility."

Hound acknowledged the information. "Thanks, Sideswipe. It saves us some time." He looked at them each in turn. "Unless new information presents itself, I think it's safe to assume that Jetfire and Skids' disappearance is connected to an external source."

"Decepticons?"

"I doubt it, Sideswipe." Perceptor answered him. "While the Decepticon's may not be quite as harmless as the Senate believe them to be, I'm quite confident in my assumption that this 'shadow' and the unknown ship are connected to their disappearance."

"We need to find out all we can about this ship. But how? It's not like we can go and knock on the door." Hound activated his projector again. "We also need to know how we can get through that."

Perceptor studied it. " I believe Hoist and I can come up with something. But with keeping the shields and equipment operational, we're going to need all the help we can get."

"You tell us what you need and me and Sideswipe will pitch in with all the help we can." Hound shut off his projector. "Time is running short. Working on the assumption that Jetfire and Skids' are still alive, we've no idea how much longer they might have."

With a plan of action set up and the unknown fate of their comrades hanging over them, a sense of urgency more intense than before settled over them. No one rested until recharge was unavoidable. Hoist had connected the two ships together, constructing a small walkway between them and interlinking the systems, with Perceptor working on the shields so they would encompass both ships and protect them from the elements and geomagnetic storms.

Between helping out with the work going on around him, Hound keep a sharp optic on the sensors, watching out for signs of possible unseen guests. It worried him. The lack of readings didn't mean they were alone. He also had no idea of what lay beyond the boundary of his initial scans of the area. The wind had kept up consistently for cycles so there had been no way of extending the range of his surveys. He had general information on the layout of the moon; orbital scans had been taken before, but nothing was as useful as a ground-based survey to get a real feel of the lay of the land.

They had been working solidly for nearly a mega-cycle when the wind dropped to a level where outside travel was possible. Hound approached the others. "We need better information on what's out there. If you can manage without me I'm going to see if I can extend our range. Any extra information we can get will help and to be honest, I'm tired of having to work in the half dark."

"I'm not sure if it would be wise, Hound." Perceptor warned. "If the wind were to increase again, it will be very damaging to your systems."

"Perceptor, we need this information. We may not have time to wait for you to develop any shielding for us and then survey. The guys are relying on us and while there's an opportunity to make some progress I have to take it."

Perceptor conceded to his point. "You're the commander. But even though I'm worried about our comrades as much as you are, we will be no help to them if we incapacitate ourselves endeavouring to find them."

"I appreciate your point. But this needs to be done."

Hoist looked up from his workstation just as Hound left. "While he has a point, has he been spending too much time with Sideswipe? As it seems to be rubbing off on him."

"I couldn't say. But we really don't need to be a 'bot down. It will take too long to get any help here and with the current solar activity, I'm not sure if we could get a message through." Perceptor picked up some tools to head off to the shuttle. "We'll have to rely on the fact that Hound is a level headed fellow and the advantage of the winds increase and decrease patterns being gradual enough for some warning."

Hoist nodded. "If you're getting started on those modifications to the shuttle, I'll join you in a moment. I'm just going to ask Sideswipe once he's finished working on the relay nodes if he would calculate how long our energon reserves will last for, or we're going to be running into bigger problems than the wind out there."

Hound had reached the outer edge of his last survey, transforming he stood and looked out over the largely flat landscape. He held his hand up, catching some dust on the metal flat of his palm. Looking at it, littered in among the dust was sharp shards of varying sizes, from the near microscopic to larger pieces. He couldn't identify the type of metal it was. He put some aside to give to Perceptor to analyse later if they had time. Transforming, he set off again, keeping a careful note of the wind speed for any indication of change.

Sideswipe stomped into the shuttle bay. "It's been four cycles and he's still not reported back."

"He'll be okay, Sideswipe. Four cycles isn't long and the wind is still low."

The bay doors were open to give them more room to work, so there was no arguing with Hoist on that point. However, the time factor was something Sideswipe could pick up on. "I know four cycles is not exactly a huge length of time, Hoist. What I'm saying is, is its a long time for him to have not checked in at all."

"Communication outside the ship is impossible from the distance Hound most likely is. The interference from the geomagnetic storms make anything outside of the shields very intermittent even in short range."

"Okay then, what about now!" Sideswipe ran to the console and hit it as dust and shards started swirling into the bay. As the doors shut and the dust settled to the floor Sideswipe turn to look at the two startled faces looking at him. "Like I said, I think we have something to worry about."

Hound had stopped on a small ridge, and though the wind was still at a low speed, he was still getting small nicks all over his armour plating. Deciding that as he didn't know how long he had until the wind would pick up, he turned back towards the base, pleased that he'd at least got them a little more information. They were exposed all round with little ground cover, and while this left them in the open, it also left in the open anything else that may be here. He had nearly got back to base when the wind suddenly picked up. He skidded in the dust from the sudden blast, dulling his reaction time and leaving him no time to avoid the boulder that flew into the side of him. The high speed of the impact rolled him on his side leaving Hound vulnerable. He knew he was better protected in his alt mode but not where he was on his side, giving him no option but to transform. Dust was everywhere, his optics could barely see the ground in front of him and it was getting under his armour plating, rubbing into the circuitry beneath.

He knew if he could get into alt. mode, his armour covering would fit closer, possibly give him more protection, but when he tried, the tiny shards rubbed and cut into him painfully. Internal systems started setting off warnings of damage, sensors everywhere fired off signals to his central processor. It left him no choice, he had to make his was back as he was. He started walking, holding an arm up in a futile attempt to keep his optics clear. Dust was clogging up his joints, making movement stiff and awkward. His progress was slowing with every step. With internal system warnings becoming urgent, promising imminent stasis lock, and almost no visibility, he wasn't even sure he was going in the right direction any more. Then everything went dark.

"You stupid fragging…"

Audio sensors were online, but only just. Sounded like someone he knew.

"…the slag you doing out here!"

The voice sounded annoyed. He shut it off. Too exhausted to listen to it.

Sideswipe brushed the back of his hand across his face in annoyance as a shard of metal cut a gouge in his faceplate, catching a nick out of his nose as it flew past. He growled, grabbed hold of Hound under his arms and dragged him aboard the shuttle, all the while cursing. He slammed the door behind him, laying Hound out as best as possible in the cramped space. He surveyed the damage, satisfying himself that Hound was still functional, if only barely and dropped heavily into the cockpit's pilot's seat.

The engines roared to life as the shuttle lifted off the ground as Sideswipe piloted it back to the ship, flying aggressively to avoid the larger debris and feeling any extra dents Hound got in the back because of it, he probably deserved for being an idiot.

Audio's came back online first, shortly followed by his optics, but they were dimmed slightly. He could make out Hoist standing nearby studying some readouts. Hoist walked over to the open recharge chamber Hound was laying in. "Welcome back to the land of the functioning."

Hound tried to talk, but found he couldn't, so he smiled apologetically instead.

"Hoist smiled. "Your vocal processor will be working again soon, it's just taken me a while to get the dust out of it."

Hound tried a different approach. If he could get his holograms working. He gingerly tested the connections to his gun turret's simulation circuitry. It was faint, but enough that Hoist could read the Cybertronian script hovering in front of Hound.

"You've only been out for an orn. It's taken me at least 8 cycles to get all the dust out of your systems." Hoist checked the readings again. "You'll be a bit stiff for a while, but your self repair systems should fix the minor damage that's left." He came back to Hound. "You gave us a scare though. Wasn't sure for a while there if I could get you stabilised before you went into stasis lock."

He read the new hologram. "Hey, don't worry about it. None of us knew the wind could whip up that fast. You were nearly back here anyway. No matter what you think, none of us was thinking you were irresponsible." He paused, looking thoughtful. "Well, maybe except for Sideswipe. But then I think he was more worried about you then he's prepared to admit."

Hoist read the last message. "You'll be able to thank him yourself. Get some rest, recharge a bit longer and you'll be up and about in no time."


	4. Chapter 4

Hoist hadn't been lying, Hound came out of recharge and gingerly stood up. He was sore, various groups of sensors were still complaining, and his chassis was sore in places from where the boulder struck him, but he noted that Hoist had done a good job in patching him back up, though he'd looked better. Feeling the need to have a few moments to gather his thoughts before he faced the others, he stiffly made for the Secutor's rec room, working on the assumption the others would be working aboard the Anaxagorus. Reaching the rec room he sat down, careful flexing a few joints trying to work some of the stiffness out of them as he thought about the terrain outside, the sudden increase of the wind and what this could possible mean for their rescue mission. What he wasn't ready for was Sideswipe.

He almost audibly groaned as he noted the mech who'd come in the door wasn't the red of Perceptor. Whilst he wanted to thank Sideswipe, he didn't want what he knew would go with it.

"That was stupid."

"Thanks." His vocal processor was working, but his voice had a tinny sound to it.

"What? I'm telling you like it is."

"No, I mean thank you. For coming to get me."

"What the pit else was I supposed to do? You're our commander and it would leave us one 'bot down. Besides, it's not like I'm gonna leave you out there to rust, damn tempting as it was."

"Not much chance of me rusting out there," Hound said, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"No, it would have just stripped you down to your framework in a matter of cycles and within a megacycle or two there would have been nothing left to find." There was no sign of the annoyance in his voice abating.

"Sideswipe. I was nearly back, no one could have foreseen the wind picking up that suddenly."

"That's not the point. The point is, is you left yourself vulnerable. If I'd have gone in the wrong direction, by the time I'd have found you it would've been too late." He folded his arms across his torso as if a demonstration of how pissed off he was. "You were too damn near stasis lock as it was. As it was, we both got lucky."

"I think you're blowing this out of proportion, Sideswipe."

"Really?"

Hound ignored the sarcasm. "Yes. Put yourself in my position. If you were the only one who could go out there and get the information that I can, what would you have done?"

Sideswipe's arms unfolded, he stood up and slammed his hand down on the small table. "You're still missing the point!"

Hound sighed. "Then what is the point?"

"You could have been off lined permanently." He glowered at Hound and walked out the room.

A few second's later Hoist walked in. "Sorry to intrude, Hound, but how're you feeling?"

"Slightly stunned maybe," he laughed, "But good enough to get back to work."

"Ummm, yes. I was coming to check on you and pick up some equipment, so I had little chance of not hearing Sideswipe's outburst."

Hound absentmindedly rubbed at a scratch on his forearm. "I know Sideswipe can be a bit volatile at times, but any idea what's got him this riled up?"

"In terms of action, it's been pretty slow around here. We are getting a lot done, but as it doesn't involve running around shooting at things, it's a bit frustrating for him." Hoist grinned.

Hound laughed awkwardly. "I suppose so. He never has been one for sitting still when he thinks he should be on the front lines. Maintenance and preparation for a mission isn't his strong point."

"Talking of maintenance, we've made some headway in modifying the shuttle and Perceptor's had some idea's on how we can use the shuttle to get to the alien ship."

"That's good news." Hound stood. "Let's get going then."

There was a general air of excitement on the main bridge of the Anaxagorus when Hound got there. Most of which was coming from Perceptor. Hoist was looking pleased with the latest Perceptor had told him, having gone on ahead and arrived shortly before Hound. Sideswipe was still looking mildly irked, but less so at the hint of something finally happening.

"What's our status now?" He asked as he walked in the room.

"Very good news, Hound." Perceptor informed him. "We have modified the shuttle to withstand communications interference so we should be able to communicate between the shuttle and the ship, though it will work over a longer distance than before, the more distance there is between the ship and the shuttle the more chance there is of interference. I'm afraid unless we can move the ships closer, at the distance of the alien ship it won't work at all."

"We'll take whatever advantage we can get at the moment, Perceptor."

"The better news is, that while you were incapacitated, I took the opportunity of using this moons weather and the geomagnetic interference to our advantage. I tested a theory out on the shuttle's shields and luckily it paid off. While not as good as our unknown friends, the shields should now provide us with a certain amount of cover, rendering the shuttle nearly invisible. I'm currently making the same changes to our shields on both ships. Maybe whatever is responsible for Jetfire and Skids' disappearance will miss us."

"Finally might be able to get something done around here." Sideswipe piped up.

Hound raised a hand to silence him. "That's better than I hoped for, that may just give me the answer I was looking for. While we're here, can you take a look at this?"

"Of course." Perceptor took the sample of dust from Hound and transformed. "Mircroscopic analysis shows everything you would expect to find within the surface elements of an organic planet, though these metal shards are puzzling."

"How so?"

"They appear to be an alloy, though I cannot isolate the base materials. These shards are also distinctively marked, scored with microscopic lines. They follow the same shape and pattern you would expect from filings." He transformed back and carefully placed the sample to one side for further analysis later.

"Filings?" Hoist asked, intrigued.

"Indeed."

Sideswipe put it together. "So you're saying it's been drilled from somewhere?"

Perceptor nodded. "It would appear so. It raises the questions: What? And from where?"

Hound shook his head softly. How on earth did a simple rescue mission become so complicated? "Until we know otherwise, our priority is to get our 'bots back. Anything else is secondary to this." He turned to Sideswipe. "Sideswipe, you'll come with me, we'll take the shuttle out to the alien ship and see what we can find."

Sideswipe nodded and left the bridge to get the shuttle fired up.

"Hoist, Perceptor, you will remain here. I want you to find a way to improve our long range communications, or watch for a window in the solar activity. We need a way of communicating with home, we may need back up." Hound grabbed the data pad that held his reports. "Get the information in these back to Cybertron. Disconnect the ships and take the Secutor up if you have to."

"But what if you need us?"

"Don't worry about us, Perceptor. It's a reconnaissance mission, I've no intention of letting Sideswipe bust the doors down without some idea of what we're up against. But we need an open communication to Cybertron. And if we don't return in what you believe to be a reasonable timeframe, get out of here. Because if we don't come back, there's something bigger than all of us going on here."

The shuttle was ready to leave as soon as Hound reached the bay. Taking the co-pilot seat next to Sideswipe in the small cockpit, he signalled to Perceptor to open the bay doors. They left the ship, Hound noticed that Sideswipe looked more at ease than he had for a while.

"You up for this?" Sideswipe asked.

"I'll be fine. I'm a bit stiff, but nothing I can't cope with."

They sat for the next breem in silence. Sideswipe eventually broke it. "We've got another problem."

Hound resisted the urge to let out a tired 'now what?'. Instead he just asked. "Let me guess. Energy reserves?"

"Yeah. We've got them, but either there was an oversight with the higher ups or they were expecting this mission to be dealt with quicker than we were. I'm not sure at this rate how long they'll last." then Sideswipe chuckled.

"Want to tell me what's so funny?"

"You know you sound like someone's replaced your vocal processor with a tin can."

Hound turned his optics to the sensor readouts. "At least I don't sound like that all the time."

Sideswipe found he didn't have a smart reply. "You spent too much time with me, you know that? And I don't sound like a tin can."

"I don't remember specifically saying you did." Hound smiled. Innocently.

Sideswipe gave a grunt of amusement. "You've gotta way to go before you can match me."

Hound turned his head to look at him. "Nothing personal, Sideswipe, but I hope I never do."

"Probably best." He paused. "Got enough with Sunstreaker." he muttered quietly.

Hound said nothing. The tone said that Sideswipe didn't want to talk about it, but Hound couldn't help but be curious. After all the stunts, going above his head and general grief that Sideswipe caused him trying to get to Earth to find Sunstreaker during the war when they were serving together, he wondered what had happened to change Sideswipe's unswerving loyalty to his brother or whether it was really just a general throw away comment. The problem with Sideswipe was that sometimes you couldn't tell.

They passed the time quietly, Hound watching the sensors, Sideswipe piloting the shuttle, avoiding the larger objects that flew at them. They were heading directly into the direction of the wind, hoping that the layout of the terrain they'd got from the long range sensor scans originally were accurate. They were now coming out of Hound's mapped area. From this point on it was mostly unknown.

Hound seemed to studying the sensor readings intently. "Sides, stop the shuttle!"

Sideswipe slammed the engines into reverse then slowed them down. He wasn't sure what threw him more, Hound's urgent tone or the more familiar use of his name. He put it down to lack of time, Hound had never called him anything other than 'Sideswipe', well to his face anyway. He was sure Hound probably called him a few choice things within the privacy of his own head.

"Cut engine power to minimal, just keep the shields up."

Sideswipe did as he was asked. "You seen something?"

"I'm not sure, it's more what I can't see."

"We've got company then."

"It would look like it. It's the same as was reported in the data recorder."

"Whatever it is, you think it's spotted us?"

"I don't think so. Its moving away from us." Hound couldn't keep the relief completely from his voice. Given a few orns longer he'd be alright, but he didn't think he could face a possible confrontation just yet unless there was really no choice.

"What direction?" Sideswipe asked.

"It's okay, the 'non-entity' is moving in a different direction from the ship. Radio silence is going to be no choice regardless of anything by the looks of it." Hound checked the readout again. "It's out of sensor range. But I would suggest we proceed slowly and with more caution now."

Their journey to their destination felt painfully slow. Hound's optics never left the sensor readouts, there was numerous stops every time something suspicious showed up, Hound knew there was a danger of jumping at shadows as they couldn't detect what it was they were trying to avoid. He just had to hope that even though not as well camouflaged, the 'shadows' couldn't detect them either.

Even though the moon wasn't large, to get almost halfway across it at the pace they were forced to set took long enough to put Hound's almost infinite patience on edge, Sideswipe was faring worse but was controlling his impatience well. Hound figured when it came to picking things up, influences went both ways. It was only when they had to stop and Sideswipe started to grind his dental plates whilst glaring at the dust clouds that Hound found he really started daydreaming about gently taking Sideswipe's cranial casing in between both hands and head butting him into sweet stasis lock.

In what felt like a deca-cycle, and even more frequent stops, they were close enough to read the energy fluctuations around their target. They kept the shuttle out of visual range, hoping to get what they could from sensor scans until Sideswipe pointed out the obvious flaw in this plan.

"It's not going to do us any good, Hound. The shuttle's sensors are not much more sensitive at this range than those on the Anaxagorus are from orbit. The only way we're going to find anything substantial out, is to get out there and look."

"I agree. But we leave ourselves wide open to being detected. We can't mask our energy readings like the shuttle's."

"It's a risk we're going to have to take. If we stay here we achieve nothing, if we turn back now we achieve nothing. If you want, I'll go then if something happens to me, you can go back and do what you've gotta do."

"No. We go together. This is not the time for heroics or self sacrifice - save it for when it's needed. While the wind level's up, I'll see what I can get from the sensors, a direction to go in if nothing else."

"Okay," Sideswipe shrugged. "You're the boss."

Sideswipe kept occupied by tinkering with equations, deciding that accurately working out how much they were using to how much they had, to how long everything had before they needed more energy would probably come in more useful than a rough estimate. It didn't take him long enough so he climbed back into the cockpit next to Hound. "Any ideas yet?"

"Possibly. Just south east of here, I'm picking up some strange readings. In fact it seems to be where the wind's coming from."

"where the wind's coming from?"

"Strange, eh? I can't get any fix on the ship itself, but I can get readings from the area around it. The ship itself initially didn't seem too big, but then I scanned a little further and came to the conclusion it is far larger than I first thought. Then on a closer look I realised that there was a break in between. It's not one ship there. It's two."

"Two of them? Like searching one wasn't enough."

"That's what I thought initially," Hound pointed to the readout on the small screen in front of him. "Until I noticed that."

"There's no wind on the far side."

"Exactly. And I have no idea what that means. Beyond that there's something going on here and though I get the feeling I don't want to know what, I'm going to find out anyway."

Sideswipe nudged him. "Ah, we haven't had the chance of a good aft kicking for a long time. If we're lucky, we might find a few Decepticons."

"I hope you don't hold it against me if I don't share your enthusiasm." Hound said.

Sideswipe's mouth twisted into a slightly perverse grin. "Never did, just means more fun for me."


	5. Chapter 5

There was a break in the weather so both, armed and cautious, left the shuttle trying to cover the distance to the alien ship quickly and unobtrusively. To their advantage, the terrain in this region of AT2 was more irregular and hilly, affording them more cover.

Carefully scanning and recording details of the area as he went, Hound realised that whatever the cover here was, it wasn't irregular. It seemed it at first but once he started gaining more information he began to see a pattern emerging. They kept a good distance between them and the alien ship, making their way towards the second structure. Sideswipe came alongside Hound. "You thinking the same as me?."

"If you're thinking that group of hills look too unnatural, then yes."

"Not quite what I was thinking, but it'll do." Sideswipe slowed and transformed, dropping to a crouched position, gun ready.

Hound followed his lead without hesitation. They crouched behind a ragged mound of earth shielding them from sight. "What is it? I'm not picking anything up," Hound whispered.

"There's something there, I can feel it in my struts"

They crouched in silence, optics scanning the area, reluctant to use anything more than visuals in case it brought attention to their energy readings. "The air's changing , we need to get moving," Hound said as he noticed Sideswipe relax a little.

A large stone slid from it's perch falling to the ground with a dull thud. Both mechs tensed. They crouched even lower when they heard a whirring sound. Keeping still they watched the air shimmer where the stone fell. There hovered a small mechanoid, it was oval in shape and no taller than a human. It's exo-shell was smooth and completely featureless. Despite its lack of features, it gave the distinct impression it was looking for something. An unnameable feeling stole over the two 'bots watching it making them distinctly uncomfortable. It hovered perfectly still for an astrosecond, then the stone exploded, the debris hitting an unseen forcefield and falling harmlessly to the floor. The mechanoid turned with what seemed like an air of satisfaction and shimmered out of view again.

Hound and Sideswipe froze, all systems poised for action, yet keeping as low as possible to avoid detection. Neither dared move a servo for half a breem until Sideswipe shifted his weight slightly. He turned to Hound. "I think it's moved on. But did you feel the energy that came from that thing?" He sounded happier than he had since they'd left Cybertron.

Hound nodded, optics narrowing a touch. "I managed to get a recording of it. I'll give it Perceptor for a full analysis when we get back to the ship.

"For now, we need to get over to those 'hills', and hope we don't run into another one of those things. I'm not sure we'd survive it."

"Speak for yourself," Sideswipe quipped. He raised a hand slightly into the now growing wind speed. "Have you noticed there's no dust here?"

"I have. It's also warm, much warmer." They were about to make a move for the hills when a vibration set off through the ground.

"Oh what now! A slagging earthquake?" hissed Sideswipe in annoyance.

Hound paused. "No. Look" He indicated to the shimmering in the distance as more mechanoids came into view and started moving toward the alien ship. "It's a warning system, we need to get out of here now!"

With no option for caution anymore, and hoping the warning system was enough to keep anyone off their tails, Hound transformed, heading full speed toward the hills.

Sideswipe came up fast but moderating his speed to not overtake Hound too much. "Where in the Pit are we headed?" he called out.

"I've no idea, just find some cover, and fast." Spotting an opening in a rocky projection, Hound turned , transformed and dived into it headfirst. Sideswipe spun, wheels throwing up dust behind him and followed just as a blast of warm air nearly sent him into the rock. Hound allowed himself an astrosecond to admire Sideswipe's manoeuvrability as he helped the other 'bot in next to him, leaving them both cramped up in the small alcove.

Sideswipe looked out. "How fast d'ya reckon that wind is?"

"I don't know exactly but it's certainly comparable to some of the more powerful hurricanes on Earth. It's not something I want to be caught in" he shifted uncomfortably. "It's at times like this I wish I knew mass displacement." Hound tried, unsuccessfully to give himself a little more space.

"At times like this _I _wish you knew mass displacement. Or at least how to displace that rocket launcher of yours, its sticking in my audio receptor, and that's not easy to get at."

"I'm not surprised, that cranial casing's so thick…" Hound let the line trail off at Sideswipe's expression.

"Who made you today's designated comedian?"

Sideswipe's expression reminded Hound of how humans did what they called 'rolling their eyes'. The thought made him realise how much he missed Earth. He just gave Sideswipe a weak smile.

"What's rusting your processor?" Hound's sudden wistful gaze looking out as he listened to the roar of the wind outside was hard to miss and Sideswipe didn't class himself as the most sensitive of 'bots.

"Not much," Hound lied. "Just listening for any sign of slow down."

"Doesn't look like it's letting up much. I reckon we've got maybe a few breems until it starts slowing down enough." Sideswipe pretended to buy Hound's answer. "Now I know there is one, the pattern in the weather is quite predictable."

"I noticed that too. I've got a few ideas but nothing concrete yet. I almost wish we could have brought Hoist and Perceptor with us."

"Nothing against those 'bots, but judging by what we've seen so far, we're better off with them where they are. I'm not saying they're not handy in a fight, but judging by the power of those…whatever they are here, they'd be more of a liability. They're not fighters." Sideswipe knew it wasn't tactful, but the middle of a potentially hostile situation wasn't the place for tact.

"That's why I said almost. But then, neither am I." Hound replied, if they were going for honesty here, might as well go the whole road.

"Hey, you hold your own pretty well in a fight. Seen you pull some good moves."

Hound nodded acknowledgement of the compliment. "Talking about moves, it looks like we should be able to make ours now."

It was still strong, but without the dust and metal it didn't represent the threat it had before, it would just slow them down. Having no idea when the mechanical 'sentries', as they had dubbed them, would come back out, they made the decision to make for the hills in the hope of getting there beforehand

They made use of the cover available to hide their movements and give them some shielding from the wind which was dying down quickly, in the attempt to close the distance quickly. They saw no sign of more sentries as they finally reached the hills, or what, from further back had looked like hills.

On closer inspection, they were steeper than originally thought and a strong warm breeze came from them. Hound ran a hand over the rough surface, following an unseen pattern. As he brought his hand away he rubbed the dirt between his fingers. "Holograms, well, holomatter."

Sideswipe looked closer at the hillside. "Looks like dirt to me."

"The dirt's real," Hound explained. It's a cover, but if I put my hand here." He placed his hand on the hill directly in front of Sideswipe then took it away. He held it out, palm side up to show there was nothing on it.

"Well, it's not like the air coming out from it didn't tell me something was dodgy about it." He poked at it. "Still feels pretty real for a hologram, even for holomatter."

"It's beyond our technology, but definitely holomatter. Ours is convincing enough to the untrained eye, but this is better than our best." Hound looked it over appreciatively. "Everything about it would tell you it's real, even the readings it gives off."

Sideswipe checked cautiously around. "We're probably going to get company soon. So where next?"

"I would think these hills hide fans, or turbines. But why and for what purpose? We're still no closer to finding out where our 'bots might be." Hound looked thoughtful. "I think that alcove we were in could be a way in to whatever is under here."

"Like an underground bunker?"

"It could be. Either way, we need to find out. I just wish we had any idea whether whoever the occupants are, are hostile or not."

"I think we can take it from that sentry that they're probably hostile."

"Agreed. We'll see if I'm right about the alcove."

* * *

Perceptor had been working tirelessly with Hoist to try and get communications with Cybertron open, but had not had any breakthrough. During any spare moment he had, he was studying the metals found in the sample. Frustration at having no answers was eating away at his natural excitement to study something new.

Hoist on the other hand, was still positive they would get a breakthrough soon. "If you're that concerned, Perceptor, then why not just take the Secutor up?"

"And possibly leave Hound and Sideswipe with no back up? No, Hoist. We keep trying from here."

Hoist continued soldering. After a little while, he tried again. "They've been gone for cycles. I'm not saying we potentially desert them, I'm just saying that if we can communicate with Cybertron then we will have better back up resources for them."

"I see the logic of your argument, but without further evidence than just another couple of 'bots missing, there's no guarantee that any back up will be sent."

"Optimus would never allow it to remain un-investigated.." Hoist sounded mortified at what Perceptor was suggesting.

"If he's over-ruled by the Senate, it may not be a choice. Without Optimus pushing for it, they weren't going to clear as much resources and 'botpower that we were allocated. Hound and yourself are here as a favour for Optimus, without which, it would just be Sideswipe and myself."

"I didn't know the Senate was so disinterested."

"It's not that they're disinterested as such." The tone wasn't bitter, but there was an edge uncharacteristic of his usual tone. " The universe is ultimately unchanging. We endure a devastating war to bring change and everything goes back to the way it was before. Political gain, social standing and power is of more concern than a few 'bots lost out in an unimportant system. If we contact them with nothing more concrete than solar flares, adverse weather, one severed wire and a less than conclusive data recorder, we'll be recalled and Hound and Sideswipe, along with Jetfire and Skids, will be written off as losses due to adverse planetary conditions. Jetfire and Skids will be a sad loss to the scientific community to them, but no more important."

Hoist nodded sadly in agreement. "It makes you wonder what everyone fought for, really."

Perceptor's frame slumped very slightly. "Indeed it does."


	6. Chapter 6

Hound prodded around in the alcove until he found what he was looking for, aiming a carefully calibrated electromagnetic pulse at the inside of the alcove, temporarily disrupting the holomatter and revealing a vent. Pulling the covering off he motioned to Sideswipe. "Get in quick." He followed Sideswipe down the cramped shaft. Bracing themselves against the sides, they lowered themselves down slowly, scanning the area before dropping gently into the open space below them.

Their optics adjusted to the lower light levels. The quiet humming of machinery was in the background. A gentle vibration was running through the metal plating of the floor, coming from a small line of consoles in the far corner. Sideswipe, weapon drawn, crossed the floor to the gently illuminated monitor. "I recognise this language." His optics scanned the monitor looking for something, anything that would give him a clue. The lines of text in front of him were ornate and angular, decorated with circles evenly spaced between them.

"I can't read it, but I know I've seen it somewhere before." Sideswipe turned his head to talk to Hound before going back to scrutinising the monitor. "Though if I had to guess, this looks like a back up for something. It doesn't give the impression it's a primary control console. It would also explain why it has sub lighting in here and no operators."

"Is there any chance of finding out what it's a back up for?" Hound asked, taking a subtle scan of his surroundings.

"I'm not a language expert. The time it would take me to figure this out is more time than we've got." Sideswipe made for the room's only exit. "It's warm in here. An unusual temperature for an underground bunker."

"I noticed. I'm reluctant to push our luck, but I think we should investigate further. I just hope their internal security sensors are minimal." Hound crossed over to Sideswipe. "After years of keeping myself unseen on Earth, I can dampen our energy signatures to a degree but it's not perfect."

Sideswipe put a hand to the door. "It'll do. Lets go." He opened the door slightly, letting his sensors scan the area beyond the door. He nodded to Hound. "Seems clear."

They slowly ventured into the corridor beyond. The light levels were almost glaring in comparison. The metal walls reflecting the overhead lights illuminating every inch of space in both directions as far as his optics could make out, much to Hound's disappointment. If something were to come along, there was nowhere to hide.

They crept along the silent, seemingly deserted corridors lined with locked doors until they found another door leading to a room similar to the one they found themselves in originally. Scanning the room and finding themselves apparently alone, they felt comfortable enough to talk again. "I'm surprised we've met no resistance. Either we've been lucky or we're not seen as enough of a threat." Sideswipe's tone at those last words made it clear he was insulted by the idea.

"That's not a comforting thought." Hound looked up to see another air vent, the same as the one they came in by. "do we take what information we have and return to the others or do we press further and hope we find some clue of our missing 'bots?"

"I say we keep on."

Hound wasn't surprised by Sideswipe's answer. "The longer we're here the more chance we have of being detected. We'll do nobody any favours by getting ourselves captured." His internal chronometer told him they'd been within the ships probable detection range for 4.6 cycles. He didn't want to risk being here much longer. "If my understanding of the pattern is correct, the next scheduled 'weather change' is in two cycles. We need to time our departure carefully."

"To miss the sentries outside but before they all get in here? Talk about cutting it fine."

"It's the best way to get out of here in one piece."

Sideswipe shrugged. "I always did like living on the edge." His optics caught sight of the console monitor to the side of the room. "Hang on a klik…" Walking over, he stared at the familiar symbols in front of him. "This is in Cybertronian."

Hound joined him. "Whatever information it is, it's fragmented. I can't make out much apart from schematics."

"And not complete ones either." Sideswipe pointed to a small diagram on the screen. "It's part of something bigger. Some kind of propulsion system by the looks of it."

"And why's it in Cybertronian?" Hound's optics narrowed at the console. "I get the feeling that whoever's here, they're not friendly."

"I'd try and get into the system, but I think if I do I'm going to set off every alarm from here to Cybertron and back. The lack of security elsewhere means that they're probably well protected in other ways."

"I'm inclined to agree with you, Sideswipe. We'll keep searching for any sign of Jetfire and Skids. We'll find out if we need to worry about the rest of it later."

Half a cycle later, they found themselves deeper into the underground 'bunker.' "This thing is huge." Sideswipe whispered as they entered a new area. It wasn't a corridor like the most of what they'd seen so far. It was oval in shape with what looked to be lifts, evenly spaced lining the walls. There were three of them on each side and a normal sliding door at the far end of the oval. "So, eeny, meeny, miny, mo, which way do we go?"

Hound smiled at the Earth saying. "We should have a look and see if we can get some idea where they lead."

Next to each lift was a panel, which much to their relief contained a small lit path route of each lift, some standard top to bottom, but some went on more horizontal routes. Hound recorded all of them for future reference, thinking it was a shame they didn't also state what it was they all led too. "If our people are being held here, I would have thought they'd be kept in the lower levels."

"Predictable."

Hound walked over to the central lift. "This one seems to go down to one place only. Could be a good a place to start as any."

"We'd just better hope to Primus that there's not a room full of fragged off enemies waiting there for us." Sideswipe got into the lift with Hound. "Though a good fight would probably help blow off some tension right about now."

Much to Sideswipe's disappointment and Hound's relief, the room proved to nothing more than a storage facility. Having no time for investigation, they turned back the way they had come. Unexpectedly, the lift stopped halfway up. Hound, concerned that their intrusion had finally been detected, pressed at what he thought could be a possible emergency door release, working on the theory that if halting the lift had been from a manual override elsewhere in the facility, then they might be able to escape the lift before their potential captors got there.

The door didn't open, but the sound of hydraulics came from above them as a hatch opened. Sideswipe nudged Hound grinning. "Was that lucky or what?"

Hound climbed out, lifted up by Sideswipe. Once out, he turned and extended an arm down to help Sideswipe up. Standing precariously on the thin lift top. Hound scanned the pitch black of the lift shaft.

"Don't these people believe in maintenance? I can't see a thing in here."

"Then switch to different sensors."

"Thanks for that advice, Mr Obvious."

Hound sighed in the dark. "Come on, I think there's a maintenance shaft just up there if you can help me reach it."

With some effort, they got them both into the gap above them, expecting a small access tunnel, they were surprised to find they could stand fully with a comfortably clear space above their heads. "This is a damn weird maintenance shaft." Sideswipe said.

"It does seem a bit on the large side. Especially as there's nothing about the rest of the place that would suggest larger size beings."

"Now this is even weirder. There's a row of doors here."

Hound gently pushed at one of them as he could get no readings from what might be beyond. "Access panels?"

"That look like doors? Seems unlikely." Sideswipe pushed on another one. "Think we should take a look?"

"We'd better be quick, how long we have until we're possibly found…" Hound cringed as Sideswipe kicked the door open. "Scrub that to _when _we're found." He glared at Sideswipe. "Not one of your smarted moves."

Sideswipe looked anything but apologetic. "Come on, we're probably gonna have to bust our way out of here anyway." He went in through the door and promptly skidded to a halt. "Starscream?"

Hound came in behind him, optics widened in surprise. He walked up to the unconscious 'bot and checked his readings. "He's alive. But what's all this stuff?" he gestured to the numerous cables and wiring that was attached. "And what the hell is he doing here?"

The room they were in was small. Like a cell. Judging by the occupant and the condition he was in, that's precisely what it was. "Starscream?" Hound nudged him gently. There was no response expect Starscream's head lolled to the side a little revealing a thicker cable attached to implant in the top of his neck just below the cranial casing. Hound optics followed the path of the cable to the machine behind him. "Sideswipe, go check the others. We need to see if Jetfire and Skids are here."

When Sideswipe had gone, Hound looked at the machine Starscream was hooked up to, but couldn't discern what it possibly did. He turned his attention back to Starscream, noting the 'bot was missing his null rays. His optics were dimmed, but he was still functioning. "Starscream. Can you hear me?" He propped Starscream's head back straight, feeling less disconcerted at Starscream sat straight. Though Starscream's optics still looked straight ahead, sightless.

"Hound, come here." Sideswipe's voice came from nearby.

Hound took a last sorry look at Starscream and walked out the room, hurrying to Sideswipe who was in the next cell. "Jetfire!" He rushed forward to the incapacitated 'bot . Sideswipe was kneeling next to him, looking like he was about to rip the cable, identical to Starscream's that ran into his neck. Unlike Starscream, Jetfire was drifting in and out of consciousness. "No…alarm set…".

Sideswipe withdrew his hand from the cable. Hound stood in front of the larger 'bot. "Jetfire, is Skids' here too?"

Optics flickered. Hound internally winced, whatever was going on, Jetfire gave the impression he was fighting a battle to stay conscious. "S…Sk..Ski..ds here."

Sideswipe stood. "Hang on, were gonna get you out of here."

"No!"

Both were stunned by the strength in Jetfire's voice. The effort he'd expended on that one word made the rest hard to hear. "N..n..no, too… d..dan..dang..er…" He stopped, regaining strength. "G..Get H..Hot Rod." He slipped under, optics taking on the same unseeing quality as Starscream's.

"Hot Rod? Jetfire, talk to me. Where's Hot Rod?" Hound was confused by this. Did it mean Jetfire needed Hot Rod, or was Hot Rod here? There was silence for a klik, Hound becoming more concerned about being found all the time, but needing to stay.

Jetfire managed to regain some control. "Hot Rod…here. Can't dis…disconnect. Needed. Hot …Hot Rod no use…sched…sched…" Jetfire gave up on the word. "will be t..t..ter…termin…nated."

Sideswipe stood at the door. "There's an alarm going somewhere near. We need to get out of here now, Hound."

Hound stood. "Sideswipe, kick every door down you have too, get Hot Rod." He turned back to Jetfire. "Hang on, we'll be back for you."

Jetfire managed to grab Hound's arm as he turned away. "Won't..kill us…needed. Dis..disconnect dead…" His hand slipped down as his strength failed him.

Hound nodded and left the room closing it behind him. He closed Starscream's too and turned to Sideswipe who'd just walked out with an unconscious Hot Rod slung awkwardly across his back and shoulders. "Let's get moving."

Sideswipe motioned toward the way they had come with his chin. "I hate to bust our good run here, but that's our only way out and that's going to be cut off. I think we could be trapped."

"It's the only option we've got. But we're not finished yet." Hound set off, Sideswipe close behind. Reaching the opening back out into the lift shaft, Sideswipe put Hot Rod down to help lower Hound and then passed Hot Rod down before lowering himself. Getting themselves back into the lift, Hound pulled out the panel next to the control pad. "Our signatures are still masked, so with any luck that will throw them off the scent. Providing they're not waiting right outside the lift when we get up there, with any luck I've still got a trick or two. Can you remember the way back to the air vent without your internal guidance system?"

"Probably."

"I've got it mapped, so when I give the word stay close because everything's going to get a bit scrambled." Hound pulled back as wiring sparked and the humming around them as the lift resumed it's upward climb grew stronger.

Standing ready, they waited for the door to slide open. Weapons drawn, Sideswipe bracing one hand against Hot Rod to hold him steady, it seemed like it took a meta-cycle before the door slide fully. They burst out into the hallway, Hound registering the presence of two sentries as he threw a spherical shaped object between them. "Run!"

Sideswipe didn't need to be told twice, he followed Hound from the oval room back into the corridors. Even though he'd braced himself for it, he was still taken off guard as a lot of internal systems scrambled, rendering him almost blind and unable to use anything beyond sub-dermal sensors and basic optic functions. "what in the pit was that?"

"EM bomb." Hound called back. "However well their systems are protected, they're not going to stand up to that."

"The problem is, neither do we!" Sideswipe yelled at Hound as he chased him down the labyrinth of corridors.

They turned into the room they had entered. Bracing themselves against the interior of the air vent, between them they shoved Hot Rod to the top. Finding the holomatter diguise flickering, it was easy to get through again. Shoving Hot Rod through first, Hound followed, Sideswipe bringing up the rear. Hoisting the prone Hot Rod over his back, Hound took up the burden, leaving Sideswipe free. Unable to transform they set off back in the direction of the shuttle, thankful of the wind at their back yet concerned of the presence of sentries.

"I'll take Hot Rod, I'm bigger than you."

"No. You fight better than me." Hound shifted Hot Rod to a more comfortable position. "It makes more sense for me to carry him."

"Can't argue with that." Sideswipe agreed. "This is going to take a while. Any idea when the frag we can transform again?"

"Not for another two breems at least." Hound informed him. "It was a powerful blast. The strongest I could make without completely disrupting all our systems and sending us into stasis lock. Its going to take time for everything to regain some equilibrium."

"Well, it'd better hurry up as it's slagging uncomfortable."

"Stop moaning and keep moving."

"Can I point out that if there are any sentries in the area we've got no way at all of detecting them?"

"The advantage there, is they've got no way of detecting us either."

True to his word, Hound, Sideswipe and the unconscious Hot Rod made it back to the shuttle. Now out of range of the original EM blast radius and the electromagnetic pulse, their systems one by one working again at near optimal condition, Hound carefully placed Hot Rod in the back of the shuttle and sat in the cockpit, immediately scanning the area as soon as the shuttle was powered up. Hound turned to Sideswipe. "The only problem now, is that they know we're here."

* * *

"An Autobot has escaped."

"Which one?"

"The one scheduled for termination."

"The others?"

"Still continuing to process data at optimal capacity. The effects of the EM bomb had little impact on productivity."

"The escaped Autobot. Was it aided?"

"Unknown, All Sentinels in the area were damaged and their information lost. Ninety eight percent probability that it was rescued ."

"Increase the Sentinels' patrol area. Increase output by twenty percent."

"Increase by ten percent is easily achievable. A ten percent increase further still will require another Transformer scientist."

"There are Autobots here. There is a seventy percent chance they have a scientist with them. We must find them."

"I will make the necessary arrangements."

"Good. Have the others been informed?"

"No. Current activities remain unknown."

"Excellent."


	7. Chapter 7

To anyone who is reading this..as I'm working on a time limit I think it's at this point it starts getting a little shaky and possibly losing its way a little. I kind of know where I'm going with this, but as I joined nano last minute I'm writing this entirely off the cuff and am pretty amazed it's made as much sense as it has so far.

As a reminder, I am posting this here for my own ease of reading (the text and page layout hurts my eyes less than other sites/word), so if you want to help out my editing by pointing out flaws/repetitiveness then the suggestions are most welcome.

* * *

Hound and Sideswipe had managed to get back to the ship with no interruptions, of which Hound was thankful. He helped Sideswipe carry Hot Rod onto the Anaxagorus. Ignoring the relieved greetings from Hoist and Perceptor, he ordered Sideswipe to recharge, Hoist to take care of Hot Rod, Perceptor to do what he could to hide the ship from sensors and himself to recharge and rest.

Walking to the recharge chambers, Sideswipe broke the silence. "We need to get back in there."

Hound felt torn. "I know they need us, but we barely got out of there this time. We'll take the Secutor up, put some distance between us. It'll buy us some time."

"We're going to just leave them there?"

"No, but we can't just storm in there again. Besides, an EM bomb isn't going to work again. We need something else, and I need time to analyse all the information I've got from them."

Sideswipe nodded though clearly not satisfied and picked up his pace, reaching the recharge chambers a good few kliks before Hound.

laying in the recharge chamber feeling the energy slowly returning to his drained limbs., Hound tried to shut off a little to clear his mind, but his optics kept reactivating. He looked over at Sideswipe in the next recharge chamber, optics dimmed. He could see from where he was the mark across Sideswipe's face where his self repair system still hadn't fully repaired the damage to the faceplate.

He almost felt a pang of guilt, until he remembered that it was probably Sideswipe kicking the door of Starscream's cell open that brought the attention of their unknown captors to them. Then he realised that this was unfair. The lift had already stopped before that happened. Then thinking about it, did the lift automatically stop where it had? That made no sense, it would have stopped so the door would have opened into the hidden hallway. Something didn't add up, but he was too low on energy to think properly. Letting his mind wander, he shut off his optics and relaxed to the familiar sound of the ships systems.

The small reprieve he had didn't last. "There's nothing wrong with a tactical retreat, Sideswipe." They were on the bridge of the Anaxagorus, Perceptor and Hoist were over to one side trying to ignore the argument going on right next to them.

"Tactical retreat? It's not a tactical retreat, Hound if we're running away!"

"Oh for the…I'm not going through this again with you." Frustration wore at the usually calm features. "If we move one of the ships to Algol Three or the other moon, we can work from there."

Sideswipe gestured expansively to the viewscreen at the front of the bridge. "We can work from here. We're shielded from sensors and closer."

Hound sat down in the command chair, a subconscious move on his part but not one missed by Sideswipe. "I know Prime placed you in charge, but I still think you're wrong." He resisted the urge to mutter 'again'.

"Sideswipe, I know how you feel but Perceptor's work on shielding us from prying sensors was only to buy us some time, not a permanent solution. It works, but it has flaws and we've got less chance of being discovered if we relocate somewhere else nearby."

"Let me go back. I've got to at least try to get them."

Hound stood back up and placed a hand on Sideswipe's shoulder. "I don't know what's eating you, Sides, but you will follow orders. Do I make myself clear?" The tone was calm and quiet but there was a hard edge to it.

"Yes, sir." Sideswipe spoke tersely, emphasising the sir to more of an insult than a sign of respect, glared at him and walked to the nearest working console, looking like he was more likely to smash it than work.

Trying to ignore the unnamed gnawing on his neural processor he turned away from Sideswipe. "How's your patient?"

"In a bad way, Hound. I've done what I can for him and will continue to do so. He took a lot of damage and the EM bomb didn't help in his weakened state."

"I didn't really have any choice with that one, Hoist."

"I know you didn't. Don't blame yourself." Hoist looked sympathetic, then slightly affronted at Sideswipe's sneering grunt.

Hound internally shook his head. He needed to have a word with Sideswipe, but not now. "Thank you. Any idea when he'll regain consciousness?"

"Not for another few cycles, though I could probably bring him round sooner."

"I hate to do it, but I need what he knows." Hound said.

"Most sensible thing you've said for a while." Sideswipe walked towards the door. "I'll get the Secutor ready to go, shall I?" He left before he got an answer.

Hound joined Hoist to go to the med bay. "We've never seen optic to optic, but just when I think we might at least be starting to understand each other a little better, he proves me wrong."

They entered the medbay. "From what I heard, the war changed Sideswipe a lot. Though if that's true, it takes very little to make him revert." Hoist started fussing over the supports connected to Hot Rod.

Hound felt another need to sigh, but didn't. "I don't know. I think there's something more going on. I know he's a bit prickly when he's got nothing to do, but he's a long way from where he started. I'm pretty certain it's something connected to Sunstreaker."

"Sunstreaker? I know those two are close, well, their concept of close, but they work fine without each other."

"No, it's more than that. Me and Sideswipe were assigned together before, when Sunstreaker went missing. He pretty much made my existence the Pit then too. I know Sunstreaker was finally rescued, but I never asked Sideswipe exactly what happened."

"Did Sideswipe rescue him then?"

"I don't know. Not at that point." Hound looked thoughtful, trying to recall what happened. "He'd spent mega-cycles going on about it, finally got to Earth and not long after triggered his orbital jump recall and joined us again. He wasn't there long enough."

"He was allowed to leave the detail?"

"You know Sideswipe. There was a battle and to be honest, we really weren't going to stop him."

"I…" Hoist was interrupted by a groan of pain from Hot Rod. "I think he's coming back to us."

Optics flickered weakly, the tiny mechanisms of the optic could be seen moving underneath the broken optical covering. Hot Rod groaned again. "S..Slagging…glitches." An arm lashed out weakly

Hoist gently held Hot Rod's arm down. "Careful, I've only just fixed that arm." He checked the newly fixed connective cables. "Take it easy, you're among friends."

Hot Rod's optics darted fitfully as he scanned the room and its occupants. "Hoist? Hound?"

"Yeah, it's us." Hound stood next to him.

"Good. Help me up." Hot Rod tried standing, unsuccessfully.

"Don't rush it." Hound steadied him. "It's going to take a little while to get your equilibrium, you've sustained a lot of damage."

"Don't I know it. Slag it, there's not a sensor in me that's not complaining." He shifted gingerly onto his feet with Hound and Hoist's help. "Look, I can't stay here. It's important I get going. Thanks for the help guys, it's been fun but I'll catch you later."

"How are you planning on getting anywhere like that?"

Hot Rod grinned. "Where there's a will there's a way."

Hound smiled back. "It's going to take you more will than you can muster right now. Sit down for a minute." He waited until Hot Rod sat down heavily. "You might want to start by noticing you're hooked up."

Hot Rod noticed for the first time the wires and then cables coming from him. "Wha…?"

"Whatever got you, got you pretty bad. Hoist's supporting a lot of your systems and dampening your damage receptors at the moment. Without that support you're out like a light. Barely a few inches from stasis lock. You're lucky most of the extensive damage is superficial."

Hot Rod looked down to see scoring from a weapon blast and other damage to his torso plate. "Ouch." He said simply. "I take you brought me round for a reason?"

"I need to know everything you know about that underground bunker and the alien ship."

Hot Rod tried to clear his mind and get a better picture of what had happened. Realising how drained he felt, he went back to laying on the med table. "It's a bit of a long story. He shut off his optics, one to automatically conserve energy and also in a vain attempt to ignore his injuries, he was in more pain than he cared to admit. "The Senate tried to disband the Wreckers. Saying we were outdated and no longer necessary."

Hound resisted asking him when he'd joined their ranks.

Hot Rod continued "Obviously, we didn't agree. There are still small groups of 'cons around, small but active. That's ignoring all the rest of the slag the universe can throw at you." He fell silent for a while causing Hound to think he'd gone under again. Hoist's reassuring nod told him that everything was okay.

"We tried to explain to the Senate, well, Prime and Magnus did, that we were still needed. You know what political types are like, they don't listen. It made little difference to us, we decided if they weren't prepared to protect Cybertron, then we would, with or without their permission." A small hint of defiance in his voice and the slight grin gave away how Hot Rod felt about that. Apart from that Hot Rod was far more personable, Hound was reminded for an astrosecond of Sideswipe.

It happened that we were heading this way, got wind of a group of 'cons heading out here. I was closest, personal business, but I was supposed to meet Springer and the others."

"There were Decepticons here?" Hound asked.

Hot Rod brought his optics back online and looked at Hound. "Not right here. We wouldn't of bothered with any of them, small fry really. But we had it on good authority Starscream was leading them."

"That would explain why Starscream's there too."

Hot Rod looked surprised. "Screamer's there as well? I thought he'd cleared out of the system. As I said, I was over this way to hook up with Springer and the guys when I got waylaid by a distress signal. I found Skids and Jetfire, so we started fixing up their old rust bucket. I don't remember much after that." Hound turned his head, staring blankly at the ceiling. "Not until I came round again anyway. I remember quite a bit then. Most of it involving pain and questioning." Hot Rod gave a strangled chuckle, dismissing the severity of what he'd just said.

Hound balked at the idea for a second. All the horrors of the war had never been forgotten, but he'd hoped that they'd finally got past them. Then composing his thoughts he tentatively addressed the subject. "Look, Hot Rod, I know this might be hard, but I need as much information as possible. What did they ask you?"

"It's okay, Hound. Really. I'm made of sterner stuff than that. They asked mainly about Cybertron's defences. I kept telling them I _was_ Cybertron's defences, but apparently they didn't believe me. The weird thing though," Hot Rod said after thinking for an astrosecond or two, "is that they kept telling _me _what Cybertron's defences were. If they knew so much, why ask to start with?"

"Curious."

"Isn't it? Slag I'm tired. Not as tired as I get listening to Kup, mind you." Chuckling to himself Hot Rod started mumbling, the words coming from his vocal processor slurred and faint.

Hoist turned from the support read out. "I'm losing it, Hound. He needs to rest. Much longer and all the support systems in the universe won't help, he'll be lucky if he only goes into stasis lock."

Hound leant over, looking into Hot Rod's now unseeing optics. "Hot Rod, you need to rest, but first, where's Springer?"

There was no answer. Hound tried again. "Where's Springer, Hot Rod?"

The reply was barely above a whisper. "Algol 3."

"Thank you." Hound stood straight. "Do what you can for him, Hoist."

Hoist's nodded, reassuringly. "Don't worry, he'll pull through."

Hound was on edge. Everyone's tempers were starting to wear thin. Between the inability to really get out from under each others feet and the constant threat of discovery by an enemy they wasn't prepared to face, and the biggest problem of the lot, boredom.

There was, for Perceptor and Hoist, a lot to get on with but even they needed a break. Hound tried to keep as occupied as possible, now that plans to move the ship were temporarily on hold until Hot Rod came around again. Sideswipe, while temporarily contented they weren't leaving, was now griping about delays. Hound sympathised to a degree but it had still ended in a heated argument with Hound demanding Sideswipe to explain to him what is was he expected him to do.

In the meta-cycle since Hound's conversation with Hot Rod, Hoist finally gave them some good news. Hot Rod, though still far from optimal, was now functional enough to move about. Perceptor also had reported that with the information Hound had given him, he could now modify scanners to pick up energy readings from the sentries though the bad news with this was the power levels Hound had recorded from the one they'd watched. Perceptor was quite adamant that it would probably fry every component in an Transformers body simultaneously.

Hound mulled the information over and went to talk to Hot Rod. He found him on the Secutor's bridge. "Nice little ship you've got here." Hot Rod said as Hound walked in.

"I can't take credit for her, but she does the job." Hound walked up to him. "I need some help."

"I know. If you want my advice, take the ship to Algol 3. Springer and the guys should be there by now, chances are they're probably going to start looking for me."

"I…"

He was interrupted by Hot Rod. "Look, the Wreckers are on the wanted list, but the media are controlled by the Senate. They want us to look bad in the hope that someone will turn us in to answer for our 'crimes'." Hot Rod's voice was full of contempt. "You know us, Hound. Autobots to the laser core. The smart thing would be for us to work together on this."

"To be honest, your reputation hadn't reached my audios. I don't get to keep up with the latest happenings on Cybertron any more. Regular broadcasts on Cybertronian matters don't exactly make hot topic news on Earth." Hound ignored Hot Rod's surprised look. "I was going to say that maybe we should work together on this, if Springer is willing. I have conditions, but nothing demanding."

Hot Rod grinned. "Hey, help's help."

"In that case, can you take the Anaxagorus with Hoist to Algol 3?"

Hot Rod looked quizzically at him. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to take the Secutor to AT1 and work from there. I'll give you all the data I have, and I'll stay in contact over an encrypted channel." Hound handed a data pad to him. "Give this to Springer. I want Hoist out of the way, we need someone to serve as a medical officer and he's the closest we have to one. I'm only willing to take Perceptor with me on the basis that he can hold his own in a fight."

Hot Rod shrugged. "I think you'd be better off coming with us, but do what you gotta do. I'll take the Anaxagorus. I can't say Springer won't be radioing you to get your posterior plates to Algol."

"He can ask, but as he's not my superior officer, I don't have to listen."

Hound's statement was so matter of fact, the lack of any attitude in it made Hot Rod laugh. "You know, Hound, there might be some hope for you."

"You never know."

Sideswipe entered the bridge. "What are you doing here?" It was directed at Hot Rod.

"I'm stealing your commander here. And I could ask the same of you."

"I'm on vacation. You?"

Hot Rod replied to the sarcasm with his own. "Same, Algol's fantastic at this time of solar cycle."

Hound looked at them both, bristling with barely contained contempt. Both with aggressive stances that said that one wrong word from one or the other would result in a fight. He took the opportunity to cut in before Hot Rod ended back in the med bay, and chances being good that Sideswipe would end up there too. "Hot Rod, can you go and give Hoist and Perceptor a run down of what's happening?"

Hot Rod glared at Sideswipe. "Sure."

Hound waited until the door gently whirred shut then turned to Sideswipe. "What is your problem?"

"Nothing." Sideswipe scowled.

Hound could feel the last shreds of his near infinite patience finally give out. "Slag it, Sideswipe. You honestly think I'm going to buy that?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

If it was possible to Sideswipe to scowl harder, he managed it. "No. It's personal. Okay?"

Hound calmed instantly. "No, Sideswipe. It's not okay." His voice was soft. "We need to be able to work together on this. If you're going to let your personal feelings get in the way then you're no good to us."

"I'm sorry."

It was barely above a mumble so Hound thought for a moment his audios had glitched. Sideswipe noticed the unsure look and repeated it. "I'm sorry, alright. I'll keep my problems to myself."

"You know, I'd rather you didn't. But if you're not going to talk about it, well, I can hardly make you." Hound sat down. "I need to get some supplies together, I also want to set up on AT1 a way of using the solar wind, we need a sustainable energy source, which is why I need Perceptor. Hopefully Springer has enough supplies so we only need to worry about us three." Hound went on to explain what he'd discussed with Hot Rod.

"Why?"

"What do you mean, 'why'?"

"I mean why not just work with Springer and the others?"

"To be honest, the Wreckers have nothing but my utmost respect. But they're not here to rescue our guys. I'm not sure why they are here as Hot Rod only said they were here chasing Decepticons. It's not that I don't believe them, I do. The problem I've got with them is they're the heavy guns. I don't want anything to happen that could endanger those we're supposed to be rescuing. Prime entrusted me with this, I'm not going to let him down."

Sideswipe's expression visibly softened. "We'll get them back, and in one piece. You know I'm with you on this one."

"Thank you," Hound said quietly. "I just hope I'm doing the right thing."

"I think you're a bit foolhardy for not joining the others," Sideswipe grinned broadly. "But as it's coming from me, hey, when have I been one for doing what's sensible?"

Hound smiled broadly back. "I don't know, Sideswipe. Even you've had your moments."

They made all the preparations quickly, Hoist took the news that he was joining the Wrecker's group with good grace, if anything a little excited to be joining, even if only temporarily, with a group with such an well known reputation. Hot Rod had been in contact with Springer and had confirmed they were currently holed up on Algol 3.

Just before they were due to disconnect the ships completely, Hot Rod pulled Hound to one side. "I've updated Springer on the situation. He's not happy that you're not joining us, but he's told me to give you this, it's the frequency we're using." He passed Hound a small data pad. "Now I've had permission, I can fill you in on the rest.."

"The rest?" Not that Hound felt surprised.

"Yeah. I didn't mention it before, as it was confidential intel." He moved his shoulder joint working some stiffness out of the rotators. "We were chasing Decepticon's over this way, but it was some time back now. It was passing through on the way back after some of them had given us the slip that we noticed the strange readings, or lack of them in some places coming from AT2. We've been watching it for a while now, it's not been easy, this place isn't easy to stake out for deca-cycles.

There's not much more intel on the place on that data pad than you know already, but you might be interested to know the high speed winds? They're a bit of a new one. Something big is going on here. Have you ever heard of the Quints?"

Hound narrowed an optic, the name stirred something, but nothing he could quite place a digit on. "Quints?"

"Quintessons. I had a run in with them a good few vorns ago, they nearly deactivated me that time too." He shrugged. "Obviously they can't keep a good 'bot down. Well, we intercepted and managed to decode a message coming from AT2, and though we can't be definite, we are pretty certain it's a Quint encryption code."

"I take it this is not good news." Life just seemed to get more complicated by the klik.

"Not for an astrosecond. They're a nasty bunch. The last time I dealt with them they were a bunch of slaggers and time hasn't improved them."

Hound was going to ask how Hot Rod had managed to get mixed up with them, then thought better of it. A lot of Hot Rod's past was pretty colourful at times and even though in the pecking order that was once Autobot military ranks, Hot Rod's standing hadn't been higher than his own, he still had respect for the short time Hot Rod stood before them as Prime. That he was once chosen by the Matrix meant something to Hound, though judging by what was happening, it would seem the Senate didn't agree with him. Instead he settled for asking for what he might need to know when it came to dealing with them.

Hot Rod was loaded with information on various Quintessons, which he passed onto Hound as quickly as possible. "We'd better get moving. Watch your back, Hound. If it's them we could be in for a rough ride."

They walked back toward the direction of the bridge of the Anaxagorus together. At the walkway between the two ships Hound stopped and offered Hot Rod a hand. Shaking the hand Hot Rod offered back, he placed the other one on Hot Rod's arm. "Good luck with your mission. We'll keep you updated as best as possible."

"You too, Hound. If you do manage to get word back to Cybertron, tell Prime I said it's about time he got out of that office and kicked some Senator tailpipes."

Hound laughed. "Will do."

He stepped back as Hot Rod walked down the walkway, the hull door sliding closed behind him. Hound returned to the rec room of the Secutor where Perceptor and Sideswipe were waiting for him.

As he walked in, he noticed that for once it was good to see no one was arguing. There was a slight air of anticipation, now things were moving again it was like a weight had been lifted from everyone. Hound took a seat and told them everything Hot Rod had told him.

"This is most unfortunate." Perceptor said, looking concerned. "I've never personally dealt with them myself, but I've heard accounts of them from those who have. They're quite an elusive species so say the least. But highly dangerous. I would suggest we proceed with extreme caution."

"That was the script I recognised," Sideswipe said. "It was more vorns ago than I care to remember, I was detailed on some obscure planet - can't remember which one - some mudball, and we ran into it there on some old ruins. I don't remember ever seeing anything there though other than the Deceptions we were turning to slag."

"We haven't got much to go on apart from Hot Rod's first hand account." Hound noticed Sideswipe bristle slightly at the mention of Hot Rod's name. He ignored it and carried on. "I agree with Perceptor, caution is needed." He turned to Perceptor. "What exactly do we know about this moon?"

"To be brutally truthful, very little I'm afraid. I've been analysing the alloy sample you brought me but can conclude no more than the two metals it contains are unknown to us. With what little I've had to work with I've been able to determine I've never seen anything like it. It has enormous tensile strength, its melting point is quite impressive too, I'm not sure if it could withstand the temperatures of the smelting pools, but I cannot melt it by any means available to me here.

I can only conclude that as the metals are not naturally occurring, and there has been no activity in this system, these Quintessons, if they are here, have been here for a very long time. As you know, the natural velocity of the wind is quite significantly and consistently higher then you would expect to find on a moon of this type, yet the regular acceleration is precisely that. I cannot determine at this time precisely what the function this acceleration serves. Though if the metal is not naturally occurring and there is a need to recycle materials and remain undetected, ii would be feasibly possible to use an acceleration of wind to pick up the scrap filings to blow them into some sort of collection point for future use.

It would also explain the warmth of the wind. Very high temperatures are needed to melt the metals down, I would surmise in an underground facility the heat would be of uncomfortable levels for any being. Incorporating a cooling system that served two functions would be very energy efficient." Perceptor looked at the two sets of optics staring at him. "This is purely conjecture, I might add."

Taking in all Perceptor had said, Hound relaxed back into his seat slightly. "I feel more confident in your guesses than a lot of peoples facts, Perceptor."

"I do my best, Hound. But I have little to work with."

"I've got a feeling, Perceptor, if this goes the way I fear it will, I'll have more need of your skill as a warrior than a scientist." He stood. "Get some recharge, I want to leave for AT1 in three cycles at the latest. I know Jetfire said they won't be killed, but I'd rather not trust to luck."

When Hound left, Perceptor stood, turning to Sideswipe he spoke. "He wears the mantle of leadership quite well these days. Though I fear he still feels command doesn't fit as comfortably as he would need."

"He doesn't do a bad job." Sideswipe grumbled.

"He needs your support, Sideswipe. It would be in all our interests if you would stop antagonising him."

"Hey, I'm not antagonising him. It's not my fault he makes lousy decisions at times."

"And you never do?" With that, Perceptor left to recharge and leave Sideswipe to think over his words.

On the bridge of the Secutor, all three 'bots were at their stations finalising the last preparations. "Take us up, Sideswipe."

"I suggest we take a route that is less than direct. Though I've hidden our signature, I can't fully disguise all signs we are here. If we circle around the northern hemisphere of Algol 3 we can use the planet to completely mask our approach. to AT1."

"Good suggestion. Sideswipe, follow Perceptor's flight path."

Sideswipe took note of the flight plan that was sent to his console and made the necessary adjustments. "ETA to AT1 on our current course is a breem. I don't want to get us there any quicker as we've got more chance of being spotted."

Perceptor looked up from his station. "I've just received word from Hot Rod. He and Hoist have successfully met up with Springer and the others. Oh, Sideswipe? Apparently Twin Twist says if you're in the way when he decides to blow up that moon, he's scrapping you along with it."

Sideswipe laughed. "In his dreams. You can tell him he'll be lucky if I only blow him to slag first."

Perceptor looked mildly perturbed. "I think the communications function is…"

Something's coming up fas.." Sideswipe started to shout. Before he could finish the ship shook violently throwing them forward in their seats.

"What the frag..?" Sideswipe cursed as he straightened up, though it was drowned out by the sound of an alarm. He turned to look at Hound. "Bring back memories?"

"Yeah, someone else coming to attempt to wipe the floor with us."

Sideswipe armed himself. "Time to go kick their aft too." He didn't have to go anywhere, at that moment unseen assailants burst through the bridge door, Sideswipe managed to get off a few shots, barely having time to notice Hound and Perceptor open fire before he was hit by an energy burst instantly crippling all his systems. Stasis lock warnings were the last thing he was aware of before it all went blank.

* * *

Broadside looked up from his station and motioned to Springer. "I've not received a reply from the Secutor."

"I wouldn't worry too much. Keeping minimal communications makes sense. Right lads, you guys ready to have some fun?"

"Are we finally going to kick some Quint aft?" Twin Twist turned to Top Spin. "Do they actually have afts?"

"Shut up, Twist."

Hoist was feeling less than comfortable with some of his companions. "Do you require anything of me?" He felt less comfortable at the sound of a snigger, though he wasn't sure who it came from.

"We need you here, Hoist. Doing what you do best. Patching us up when we come back." Springer said kindly like he was compensating for the rudeness of his group. He turned to the others. "We'll wait for word from Hound, get the low down on what he discovers, and if I'm right about it being the Quints, we move in. Cybertron might need saving from itself, but it's never going to get the chance if the Quints get a foothold anywhere."

* * *

His audios came back online first. He lay there unable to see or feel anything. He felt like a disconnected consciousness, not what he'd expected it to be like after deactivation. Then he realised that if it was true that they returned to the matrix, or some place where the spark joined the others, it shouldn't sound like electrical circuitry shorting out and sparking. His train of thought followed through to the logical conclusion that he was in fact, not dead. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved by this realisation or not. After what seemed like an age, signals, faintly at first started sending signals up to his processor. He hoped the signals didn't suddenly pick up and flood in, he wasn't sure his neural net would cope. The he hoped they would, unconsciousness was looking like a good option as he started taking notice of how much everything hurt.

It seemed like another age passed. Frustration had set in some time back and was now set at a steady ebb and flow. Every attempt at movement resulted in pain. He tentatively tried internal systems to assess the damage, everything told him all was functional, self repair systems were healing only minor damage. His optics gradually became operational again. He found himself staring at ceiling of the bridge. _Definitely not dead then. _He was mildly diverted at the thought. Suddenly everything that had happened came flooding back. He tried his vocal processor and was relieved to find he could speak. "Sideswipe? Perceptor?"

There was no reply. Hound didn't worry immediately. Maybe they were in the same condition as him, but couldn't talk. He tried a radio signal. Still nothing. He tried moving again and was rewarded with a twitch of a digit. He mentally flinched at the pain it still caused, over sensitised sensors firing at the slightest provocation though it was less than before. Mentally steeling himself for what he was about to feel, he moved. He let out an involuntary yelp of pain. Ignoring it, he pushed on until he was sat upright. He waited a second for his optics to clear, the excess sensory input interfering temporarily with their function. He gingerly turned his head to see Sideswipe, optics dimmed, laying a short way from him.

"Sideswipe!" Hound gritted his dental plates and scrambled over to Sideswipe's side. Sideswipe's faint but steady pulse of fuel lines reassured Hound that Sideswipe was alive. He looked around but there was no sign of Perceptor. He turned back to Sideswipe, talking to him in the hope he would get a response. He didn't get one, and with a lot of his own systems still feeling fuzzy he was at a loss for what to do. Feeling weak, he lay down where he was. He knew he should try and get up, try and get himself and Sideswipe to the Secutor's tiny med bay, but though the mind was willing, his body wouldn't respond.

It was two breems later, if his internal chronometer was correct, that he heard a faint voice. "Hound?"

"Sideswipe?"

"Why are your feet in my faceplates?"

Hound gave a weak laugh and forced himself into a sitting position. "Sorry, I just kind of collapsed there."

Sideswipe grunted in pain as he pushed himself round onto his side and propped himself up on his forearm. "That was painful." He looked round. "Where's Perceptor?"

Hound shook his head. "He's not on the bridge. I'm worried about him. As soon as I can, I'll search the rest of the ship for him. Do you remember what happened?"

"I remember it hurting a lot, whatever it was. Something sneaked up on us?" Sideswipe shook his head in an effort to remember, then instantly regretted it. "Something came on the bridge? That was it."

Ah good. You remember the same as me, but everything's so glitched at the moment I needed to make sure I could trust what I remembered."

Sideswipe cursed. "I don't think I can get up."

"Give it a while, not like you have any choice. Whatever they hit us with it may not kill us, but it's effective."

"You know," Sideswipe's expression darkened. "That raises the question of why didn't they kill us?"

Hound sighed. "Not necessarily an easy question to answer."

"You know that's really distracting."

"What is?" Hound looked puzzled.

"The way you cycle air like that."

Hound chuckled softly. "Sighing? A human thing to do, I admit. It's something I picked up from them, but I can see why they do it. There's actually something quite satisfying about the expression."

Sideswipe's somewhat ambiguous facial expression told Hound Sideswipe didn't quite see what Hound was getting at. Hound just smiled, other Transformers not getting his love of Earth was commonplace. It was one of the reasons he chose to stay behind. Pushing himself, with difficulty, to his feet, Hound informed Sideswipe to stay where he was and went to attempt to find Perceptor.

The search was slow and painful, but he was determined to keep it up now he could move. Every room brought disappointment and a rising sense of worry. There was no sign of his science officer anywhere. Finally getting to the end of the ship he entered the shuttle bay. He was greeted by the sight of cold space. The only thing keeping the shuttle bay intact was the emergency shielding covering the large hole blown into what had been the bay doors. Searching the larger room thoroughly, he was left with no option but to go back to the bridge and tell Sideswipe.

Reaching the bridge he found Sideswipe had managed to get himself to his feet and was at the ship's helm. He didn't even bother to turn when Hound entered the room. "We're drifting. We have some emergency power, but the engines are dead."

To add more bad news, Hound just said dully, "Perceptor's gone."

"Gone?" Sideswipe stood and walked over to him. "Gone as in..dead?"

"I don't know, Sideswipe. Gone as in not here." Anger and hurt etched his voice. There was a bitter edge to it too. He slumped back into his command chair and laughed. There was no mirth in it. "Frag it. I couldn't have messed this up more if I'd set out to screw up." He brought his fist down on the side panel of the chair denting the metal. "And now Perceptor's been lost too, dead, captured…who knows."

Sideswipe awkwardly placed a hand on Hound's shoulder. "It's not your fault," He said quietly.

Hound looked away dismissively. He stood up shrugging off Sideswipe's hand and walked over to stare blankly out of the view screen.

Undeterred, Sideswipe walked over and stood next to him. "It's not your fault, Hound."

"Isn't it?"

Hound spoke so quietly Sideswipe had to strain his audio sensors to hear him. "No, Hound. It's not. You couldn't have foreseen this, it was supposed to really be just a straightforward rescue mission."

Hound remained silent. Sideswipe tried again. "Look, I'm not the best 'bot for this, I've all the tact of a wrecking ball at times, I know that. But I'm being honest here."

"Optimus should have chose someone else."

Sideswipe's limited patience ran out. "Oh shut it, Hound. Stop talking slag. Optimus asked you to lead this mission because he knows you can do it. Okay, it turned out much bigger than we thought it would be, it happens. And none of us have seen active duty for how long now? Let's face it, you've been on Earth, I've been stuck on a peaceful Cybertron trying to get business up and running and…"He trailed off, unwilling to finish the sentence. "Either way," he said recovering quickly. "It adds up to a whole lot of lack of blame. If I'd been running the show, we'd have probably ended out worse. There's a reason Prime uses your level head over my rush in ask questions later tactics."

Hound slowly turned his head to look at Sideswipe, slightly taken aback at Sideswipe's sudden honesty. He couldn't think of a time Sideswipe had ever openly spoken like this. Sideswipe noticed the look in Hound's optics. "What? I'm not perfect but you think I'm going to stay that pain in the aft rookie I started out as forever?"

"I…" Hound couldn't think of anything to say. Then as Sideswipe placed his hands on Hound's shoulders and rested his head gently on Hound's cranial casing, Hound found surprise was the only thing he felt at that moment; close physical contact was not in Sideswipe's repertoire, so he only just made out Sideswipe was talking.

"Recharge. The ship has some power. We rest and when we can think straight again, we work out what we're going to do next. You will do your job and lead the remainder of your team to finish what we came here to do." Sideswipe moved back, looking slightly surprised at himself.

Hound thought he could see a twinge of awkwardness there too, but if it was there, Sideswipe didn't let it stop him from all but frogmarching Hound to the recharge chamber.


	8. Chapter 8

Some cycles later they were back on the bridge, still feeling weaker then they would have liked, but much improved than they were. Hound was still sore but had regained his mental composure. Sideswipe still cast a wary optic on him, not sure if Hound could be trusted to not lapse back into guilt and self doubt. "You know, on the positive side, drifting dead in space could work to our advantage."

Hound looked at Sideswipe, slightly incredulous. "And how do you work that one out?"

"As far as those fraggers are concerned, we're dead, we could find a way to use this."

Hound's finger poked at the dead console. He gave a low growl in frustration. "I don't think they do believe we're dead." His hand balled into a fist. "Do you know what Starscream did before the war?"

Sideswipe shook his head. "I was too busy trying to turn his afterburners to slag to engage in polite conversation."

"He was a scientist," Hound said, ignoring Sideswipe's mild sarcasm. "They've got Skids and Jetfire, again both scientists. And if I'm right, they've taken Perceptor."

"What's that got to do with us being alive still."

"Whatever they hit us with, it took out us and the entire ship in one attack. If they wanted Perceptor alive, whatever they used had to be strong enough to knock out all on board and our own systems, but not damaging enough to kill. The whole point is, our systems were disabled, not damaged." He paused for a while, thinking. "They knew where we were. Everything we did was a waste of time." The realisation unnerved him in ways he couldn't express. "Why would they wait until we got this far? Why not stop us while we were still grounded?"

"Fun." Sideswipe said simply. "Let them think they're achieving something, then take it away from them. The tactic serves two purposes. One, they're twisted slaggers who like inflicting suffering on others and two, if we know we're up against something bigger we can't cope with, we learn to, and fight harder. This way, we think we can do this, then they take it away. Chip away at hope and leave us defenceless." Irritation grated at him. "If the guys are right about who we're up against, nasty pieces of work aren't they?"

Hound's shoulders slumped. Sideswipe, not wanting to see a return of Hound's earlier mental state, changed tone slightly. "But hey, since when has underhanded tactics like that ever worked against us?"

Hound resisted replying with 'now' in favour of continuing trying to piece everything together. "They don't really see us as a threat. It makes sense. The lack of security, not attacking us and taking Perceptor before they did. Leaving us here alive." Bitterness crept into his voice, partly at the possible insult, partly because he thought they might be right. "They really don't see us making any difference at all."

Sideswipe gave a derisive snort, grinding a fist into the palm of his other hand. "Shows what they know then."

"I don't know. They seem to have it worked out pretty well. They've got what they want and we're drifting like scrap in space still none the wiser to what's actually happening." He walked over to the only console that showed any sign of life, the lights flashing irregularly. He looked at it thoughtfully. "What have we got?"

"Not a great deal. Communications are down, the engines are completely offline, all ships sensors are almost completely shot. We've minimal power to the recharge chambers and I would have thought the ships central computer is in a similar state as they're the most protected areas of the ship. Other than that, we've got enough energon to last maybe a third of a deca-cycle providing we don't throw any celebrations."

"I though we were lower than that."

"If we still had Perceptor and Hoist and a functioning ship, it would be a serious problem." Sideswipe gestured towards the screen and Algol 3 in front of them. "So, do we hope that Springer and his mob notice us? Or do what is it that humans do when stranded…a message in a glass receptacle?"

"A message in a bottle." Hound corrected. "That only possibly works when surrounded by water. I don't think that method would work in space." He smiled thinly. Then mentally chastised himself for not thinking of it before. "Is the shuttle working?" He set off as fast as possible to the damaged bay, hoping.

Sideswipe caught up steadily keeping pace with Hound as he raced down the corridor. "Whatever they used blew out everything. I doubt the shuttle stood up to it."

"I have to check. The blast they used to blow the bay doors out wasn't the same as they used to disrupt ships systems and us. The shuttle was at the furthest point from it, we may be able to use it still."

Hound rushed into the bay and over to the shuttle, checking it for external damage. It didn't seem to have any that was obvious to he jumped into the cockpit, trying to get some like into the controls. After several tries, he brought his fist down on it in frustrated anger. "Work, damnit!

Sideswipe joined him, sitting in the co-pilot seat. "It was a good idea, but you knew the chances were slim," he said softly.

Hound turned his head, a determined look in his optics. "We don't have the time or enough power to get the Secutor up and working. I will get the shuttle running."

Sideswipe regarded him carefully. "What are you planning on doing?" He sounded suspicious, he wished he could put Hound's erratic behaviour down to his circuits being fried, but he knew it wasn't. He was more than familiar with the behaviour of someone on an obsessive course.

Hound was busy working on the panel in front of him. "I'm going to get Perceptor and the others back," he said without looking up.

"Hound, if we manage to get off this slag pile, we need to find Springer and the others."

"Go if you want to. I'm going to find them."

Sideswipe grimaced. "How far do you think you'll get? If you get to them how do you plan on getting three unconscious bots outta there. Four if you really want to save Screamer's sorry hide."

Hound stopped but still refused to look up. "I have to do this, Sides," he said quietly. He looked up. "After all the fuss you made over Sunstreaker, I would have thought you'd understand. I know he's your brother and there's a bond there I don't fully comprehend, but Perceptor, Skids, Jetfire…they're friends. I can't leave them."

Sideswipe gave a mirthless laugh. "You think I wanted to rescue Sunstreaker's sorry hide because he's my brother?" He relaxed back slightly. "Of course you would. There's never been a reason to think otherwise." He smiled at the quizzical expression on Hound's face. "I'll let you into a secret, knowing I probably shouldn't as you were my commanding officer, but frag, if it helps you see sense…here goes." He gave a slightly defeated look and plunged in, still not certain this was the wisest move he'd ever made. "I wish I could express some noble sentiment, that I was doing it for him. But I wasn't.

"Sunstreaker gave me a lot of flak, always the rookie and never good enough, that was me. But to cut a long story short, I never rescued him for him, it was to prove to him once and for all, that I wasn't a rookie, that I was every bit as good as he was." Sideswipe waited for the backlash. Once he would have though Hound was as soft as gold but he was starting to learn that Hound could be as hard as Hardhead at times.

It never came. Hound just laughed. "You gave me all that hassle just so you could prove a point?" He shook his head. "The pigheadedness of you and your brother never ceases to amaze me sometimes."

"Pigheadedness?"

"It means you're obstinate to the point of being totally unreasonable. In all that time on Earth, did you ever talk to a human?"

"Not if I could avoid it." Sideswipe said honestly. "Nothing against them, just not interested."

Hound went back to the open panel. "I know what you're trying to do, but it's not going to work. It's my turn to be pigheaded. Please, don't argue with me," Hound said as he saw Sideswipe's mouth open to protest. "I'm responsible for Perceptor, it's down to me. If you want I can drop you off on Algol."

"I'm coming with you."

Hound sighed. "Thanks, but you should go with Springer and the others."

"Hound, now I do think your circuits are fried."

"They're not. I might get given commands, but you're forgetting my primary function is as a scout. I'm used to infiltrating enemy territory. It's what I do."

"Okay, so you've got a point there. But I think you need me."

Part of the control panel flickered weakly to life. Hound smiled triumphantly. "Side's, nothing personal, but you're a pain in the aft. You barely follow orders, your idea of stealth tactics is to kick a door down rather than blow a hole in it. When it comes to infiltrating a base, I need you like I need a siren stuck on my back."

"Hey!" Sideswipe feigned a hurt look. "We did okay last time."

Hound was going to point out Sideswipe kicking door down may not have helped their cause but decided not too, if nothing else, because it might not have effected anything for all he knew. Instead he settled for telling Sideswipe to make himself useful.

Handing Hound the pulse wrench he'd asked for, Sideswipe tried again. "Look, if this was any normal infiltration mission I might agree with you. But as you said, they seem to know everything we do anyway. Which means you'll be fine until they decide you're an annoyance. In which case, you're going to need some heavy guns."

"That's why I'll be contacting Springer."

"Springer won't be there quick enough if you run into trouble."

"Why is it so important you come wit…" Hound didn't finish the question. "Forget it. Fine, just make sure you follow orders."

Hound was searching the Secutor looking for anything that could be salvaged to use for the shuttle. He'd left Sideswipe in the bay looking at ways to divert power from the recharge chambers to the shuttle. His mind kept wandering, to how he was going to achieve his goal, how to get communications up and running, how to, how to, how to…too many questions and not enough answers. One of the less important but more prominent questions that kept sneaking to the front of the queue was Sideswipe. It bugged him, as he wasn't even sure what the question was. As determined as he was, to say he wasn't jittery at all about what he was about to do would be a lie. It wasn't because he genuinely believed Sideswipe would jeopardize the mission, it was…he finally decided he didn't have an answer so pushed it to the back again and concentrated on his current objective.

Finding all he could that would be of any use to him, he returned to the bay. He stepped over the thick power cables laid across the small amount of spare floor that were feeding the last remaining power of the Secutor into the shuttle. "Most of the ship is useless. Fried," Hound said ruefully. "I've managed to scrounge up a few things."

Sideswipe poked his head out of the shuttle door. "Good, if you've got something that will replace these," he handed Hound some heavily damaged components, "because the communications are shot."

Hound checked though and gave Sideswipe the parts that looked most suitable. "I don't know if they'll work, 'Sides, pretty much everything from communications to Perceptor's holo-chess is wiped out. I can't get exacts, so we'll have to make do."

Sideswipe went back into the shuttle with the replacements, then two nano-kliks

Later poked his head out again. "Perceptor plays holo-chess?"

Hound nodded. "He picked up chess on Earth. Apparently it helps him think."

"Figures. Though I thought he'd play something a little more…_complex_." He went back inside.

Hound wasn't sure if the emphasis was Sideswipe insulting Perceptor in his normal choice of pastime, or an insult at human games for being too simple. Either way, he made no reply and started working on the shuttle.

The Secutor was cold. Not that either of them was particularly bothered, but even though they could both survive the vacuum of space without protection for a while didn't mean they found it that comfortable. The Secutor was now completely without power having all been diverted to the shuttle, but the shuttle wasn't ready to launch yet and wasn't big enough to house both 'bots comfortably when they needed a break.

They sat in the dark of the rec room, taking an opportunity to stretch out a bit, the only light the glow of their optics. Hound's alt mode hadn't changed since he'd first arrived on Earth, but Sideswipe had insisted that Hound should conserve energy, even dim headlights weren't really necessary, it wasn't like they couldn't see at all.

Hound was feeling more positive then he had since the attack. He was fast coming to the conclusion that his initial despondency was largely to the frying of his circuits, though he knew Sideswipe was sceptical when he'd tried explaining this to him. Now he was back on a more even level, he thought through his initial plan again. "I need to talk to Springer. I'm not happy with the idea of taking a detour to Algol 3, but if we can't get communication back up…" he let the sentence hang.

"As much as I hate to agree with you," Hound could hear the smirk in Sideswipe's voice. "It's probably the best course."

Having agreed on a course of action; at least in the short term, they left to go back to the shuttle bay. As they entered, Sideswipe hurried over to the hole in the back of the room. "Hound! Get over here!"

Hound crossed the room standing at Sideswipe's shoulder, looking at where he was pointing.

"Are my optics still glitching or is that moon moving?"

Hound looked closer at AT2. "No, there's nothing wrong with your optics, that moon is moving." Hound looked at it in disbelief for an astrosecond as he and Sideswipe scrambled for the shuttle. Whatever was happening, both realised that whatever time they thought they had, they didn't.

"We need to get to Springer as fast as possible," Hound said as Sideswipe tried to coax the shuttles engines into life. He concentrated on trying to keep himself focused on finishing up some connections inside the access panel rather than the irritating sound of Sideswipe's dental plates grinding in frustration as the other 'bot attempted to put more effort into what he was doing rather than cursing. He tried opening a comm channel to Springer, but it was dead. This gave him two concerns. Was it just the communications from the shuttle that were fragged or had the Wrecker's run into problems too?

He tried to ignore the possibility of the latter. Just as he was about to stick his hand into the access panel the engines fired.

"Yes! Lets get this show on the road."

* * *

"Springer. I think we might have a problem."

Springer crossed over to Broadside. "What is it?" He looked at Broadside's readouts and the subtle unnatural change in AT2's orbit. "What the..? Broadside, I want to find out where that's headed and how fast."

"On it."

"Hot Rod, see if you can get Hound for me, find out what he knows." Not waiting for an acknowledgement he turned to Twin Twist. "Take Top Spin with you and get everything battle ready. Tell Hoist to help with the finishing up work on the EMN's."

The team moved with a fluid ease, waiting for the battle they believed was coming.

* * *

"Has there been any news?" Ultra Magnus stood looking out over Iacon from the window in Prime's office.

"Nothing yet. To say the situation isn't concerning me would be a lie."

"And the Senate?"

Prime's expression remained neutral. "The Senate see as they did before."

Ultra Magnus turned to face Prime. "I know it's not my…" He cut off at Prime's raised hand. He spoke again. "I've not seen the Iacon Memorial Park since it was finished. I've been remiss is paying my respects to old friends. I would be grateful for the company."

Prime nodded genially. "I've not been there myself for a while. I think it's about time I visited again."

It didn't take them long to cross from the building into the large memorial park that had been put in place in respect for the lives lost during the war. They walked along the wide light coloured path that ran alongside a row of sculptures, each carrying names of those now gone. The sculptures bore no physical likeness to the autobot they represented, they were abstract shapes. Made more to convey a sense of the personality and emotional likeness to those they represented. They stopped near to one that was almost bland compared to those around it, it's straight lines and clear angles giving off a sense of purpose, a path well thought out and firmly followed.

"Prowl," Ultra Magnus said as he looked at Prime who stood contemplating the shape before him. It was an unnecessary statement. The logical, unerring sense of direction it seemed to have spoke well of who it was made for.

Prime nodded softly. "Even now, I still rely on his logic and clarity of thought." He turned his head slightly toward Magnus. "I find just standing in the presence of his memory focuses my thoughts."

Magnus smiled softly. He respected Prowl as an officer, but even though as Prime's second in command, Magnus had frequent communication with Prowl, it was always straight to the point. They never served together in anyway that allowed for acquaintance beyond a mutual respect for a fellow comrade. "He was an outstanding officer and a credit to the Autobots."

Optimus' optics glowed warmly. "He was indeed, and a good friend." He paused and looked back at the memorial. "I just hope he can continue helping me through difficult times."

"Sir?" Ultra Magnus was unsure at what Prime was referring to.

Prime turned from the sculpture completely and back to Magnus. "The Senate rules Cybertron justly. Now the war is over, my role has changed."

Magnus was still not sure he followed what was being said to him as they continued to follow the path again. "Your importance to Cybertron, and the Autobots is as important now as it was then, Prime."

"In many ways, I would agree with you, Ultra Magnus."

"What's going on, Prime? First the Wreckers are being held accountable for crimes they haven't committed." Ultra Magnus' voice betrayed his disgust at the Senate's stance. "Now they're refusing to look into an incident that could be condemning more 'bots to a death sentence."

Prime slowed his already gentle pace. "We don't know that for certain, Ultra Magnus."

"We do when it comes to the Wreckers."

Prime looked tired. "I know. I've tried bringing it up with the Senate many times, but they are determined to look through clouded optics." The expression on Ultra Magnus' face mirrored what he felt. Concern, frustration, even a touch of anger. "I believe they are scared."

"What of?"

"Peace is a fragile state. We all deal with the difficulties of war in different ways. When we are faced with war, we fight to defend what we believe is right. Many of the Senate were never fighters. Politics attracts a different personality."

"They want power but are not prepared to fight for it," Magnus muttered quietly.

"I am not accusing the Senate of cowardice, Ultra Magnus," Prime said softly. "Just of being a different mould. The Wreckers represent a time they would rather believe is over and will never happen again. I wouldn't say they are unaware of the dangers that may be out there, but they wish to be blind to them."

Ultra Magnus shook his head. "This is the 'enlightened rule' we all risked our lives for? Don't they see that by turning a blind eye to any problems they start the whole process all over again?" It pained him to see Prime look so torn.

"I will stand by the Senate that serves Cybertron and its people."

Ultra Magnus looked at Optimus Prime, the gravity of that simple statement weighed on him, though he knew not as much as it Prime himself. "So, what now?"

"We wait."

* * *

Hound looked out of the shuttle window to the dead husk of the Secutor receding away from them. It was a blow to lose the ship especially at a time when a fight might not be avoidable. It was small, but it had been built to be good in a fight. Algol 3 was some kliks away, but they'd been fortunate Secutor's drift had taken them closer to the planet. They loosely discussed ideas and strategies for getting their bots back for the duration of the short journey.

The planet was equally as desolate and bleak as its moons. The only real difference between Algol 3 and AT2 was the air flow was less harsh in comparison. The ground was the same dull colour but without the metal fragments. Sideswipe manoeuvred around a large boulder and set the shuttle down next to the Wrecker's large craft.

Once inside Hound brought them up to speed on what had happened. The news of Perceptor's probable capture was met with dismay from the team. Springer had been left alone with Hound and Sideswipe, discussing their options. Sideswipe, though still committed to the idea of helping Hound rescue their guys, he was relieved that Hound seemed to have got over his earlier lapse of confidence and foolhardy idea of trying to rescue Jetfire and the others without help. He hoped he was wrong and it was just Hound's bad reaction to the sentries frying his systems, though there was still an edge to Hound's attitude he didn't entirely trust.

Broadside chose that moment to enter, interrupting conversation and Sideswipe's thoughts. He looked agitated. "We've got big problems."

Everyone was on their feet. "What?" Springer barked.

"I've finally managed to break through the interference on the readings and probe deeper scans into AT2." He saw Springer's impatient look and decided to get straight to the point. "AT2's not a moon, Springer. It's a ship."


	9. Chapter 9

Every optic in the room was directed at Broadside. Springer spoke first. "A ship? You're kidding me right?"

"I wish I was. It's moving very slowly, probably to disguise its energy readings, but they are there if you look. It was picking up the energy output that gave me a hole in their defences. That underground 'bunker' that Hound and Sideswipe reported? It isn't, it's part of a much larger area. The entire thing is hollowed out."

Springer strode to the ship's main bridge, with the rest of the room's occupants following. Once there he started barking out orders then checked up with Hoist while everyone mobilised for action.

Hound and Sideswipe accompanied him to see Hoist working deeper in the ship. Hound noticed how well equipped they were for a team of 'renegades', though not all the technology was Cybertronian in origin. Springer noticed the unspoken question. "Ever since we were 'officially' disbanded, we can hardly return to Cybertron for our supplies." He shrugged. "We take our opportunities where we find them."

"You did well to get a ship this size," Hound commented.

"Ah, that's what explains the now official charges against us. We didn't return the ship when they asked us."

Hound looked at him.

"They didn't say please." Springer laughed. "It's not so much theft as an unapproved extended loan."

Hound ignored the approving snigger that came from Sideswipe behind him. From what he had heard from talking to the others, he'd found out a lot about the political state of Cybertron he hadn't known about. He understood Springer's actions but he still struggled slightly with the idea of making light them. He settled with smiling politely, which in turn caused him to ignore Sideswipe elbowing him playfully in his side plating while he accused him of being 'Good old dependable, sensible Hound'.

The jovial veneer of the mood helped cover the deeper concerns everyone felt for the moment, though Hound did smile at the thought that it really took very little to bring certain aspects of Sideswipe's personality to the fore. But despite the tone of Sideswipe's words, Hound could tell there was an underlying uncertainty to them, as if Sideswipe was trying to convince one of them, either himself or Hound, that the Hound that had the confidence crash, the one that for a while ignored good sense wasn't about to return.

Springer moved to Hoist's side, peering intently at the gadget Hoist was holding. "Are they finished?"

"I do believe they are. And they seem to be more effective than I anticipated. May I ask where you acquired the technology?"

Springer tapped the side of his head conspiratorially. "You could, but then I'd have to refuse to tell you."

Hoist chuckled. He still felt a little out of place among this more rough and ready group, but he'd slipped into place among them quite well. Springer was more than happy with the temporary addition, whilst none of them was short in the mental department, having an engineer on board as capable as Hoist had proved useful.

Sideswipe looked at the small metal disc. "What does it do?"

Hoist put it on the table in front of him. "It blocks out electromagnetic interference. If we'd had access to better materials, it's what Perceptor and I were trying to achieve since we first got here. Only with this, we can achieve a lot more with a much smaller piece of equipment."

Springer took over. "Once Hot Rod and Hoist told us about the sentries and we had access to the readings, it was pretty obvious what their primary weapon here is."

"Electromagnetic pulse," Hound said. "EM is an unusual weapon to use, though it's good for causing disruption." It was something Hound was well aware of, as his own systems were susceptible to EM interference which was why he'd been so careful to adjust his systems with Perceptor's help initially. "Years of war with the Decepticons taught me that one."

"It's a good offensive," Springer agreed. "But only if it works." He grinned and threw a couple of the small silver discs to Hound and Sideswipe. "We need to keep track of AT2, so I'll send one of the lads to bring your shuttle aboard so we can leave here and shadow them." Satisfied with Hoist's work, he left to return to the bridge.

Sideswipe looked like he was about to say something, but let it drop. Hound wondered if the time he'd spent working on the shuttle made Sideswipe a little possessive of it. It didn't seem likely.

Hoist explained to them what the EMN did, and its range. "Its range is not extensive so if one takes damage you can't use one to shield both of you unless you stay close, and you have the problem that it will knock out incoming signals, so radio communication will be impossible unless you are both within its field."

Sideswipe groaned. "So if everyone splits up we've no way of communicating."

"Yes. There's not any other choice it's the only way we can protect ourselves from those sentries."

Hound nodded. "It can't be helped." He turned to Sideswipe. "It's difficult but we'll find a way to get word to the others."

"You still determined to go ahead with just the two of us?"

"Yes. Springer is going to need his people to stop this thing, so we'll get them out."

Hoist watched the exchange. "I would like to accompany you."

Hound shook his head. "As much as I appreciate the offer, Hoist, I want to ask you something that could possibly be more dangerous. The shuttle has limited range, so we need careful, but I think it should get far enough to the edge of the system to minimise interference from the solar flares. I need you to get word to Optimus Prime, as Springer can't."

"I'll do it."

"Thanks Hoist, I know I'm asking a lot of y…"

Hoist interrupted. "Just like old times aye? I take it the shuttle needs some repairs."

"How'd you guess?" Hound said smiling.

Hoist thumbed in Sideswipe's direction. "He was driving."

Sideswipe let the jibe roll over him good naturedly. His annoyance was directed elsewhere.

Hoist left them both alone to go find the shuttle and hope it wasn't as badly damaged as he thought it would be.

Hound noticed Sideswipe looked like he was trying to hide discomfort, but pushed it to one side. "I need to talk to Springer. So I can let him know what I'm planning on doing."

Sideswipe fell into step beside him as they left the room. "Have you considered how we're going to get off that thing? The shuttle isn't big enough and now if Hoist is taking it, we won't have anything. I don't know if you noticed but none of us have a convenient interstellar jet mode."

"Where's Sky Lynx when you need him, eh?"

"Dead."

The complete lack of emotion stopped Hound in his tracks. "Dead?"

"One of the last battles on the Decepticon strongholds in the Adhara system."

"Why didn't I hear about this?"

"The war had officially ended, Hound. You were on Earth, there's no reason you would know."

Hound nodded morosely. "Still…"

"Leave it, Hound. We have time to feel bad about this later."

"You're right." Hound straightened up, but he didn't feel any better. How long ago had Sky Lynx died? It didn't matter for Hound, it might has well have just happened. "That's why I need to talk to Springer. We'll need a lift."

They spent the rest of the walk to the bridge in silence.

Springer was un-amused with Hound's continued decision to attempt to rescue the 'bots using just him and Sideswipe. There was a heated debate which caused bets to be taken among the Wreckers on who would back down first. Top Spin was disappointed to find he owed Sideswipe.

Hound had braced himself for Springer's reaction, though he hadn't expected to be compared to what Springer referred to as the irresponsible behaviour of a certain Prime. Hot Rod just grinned at the reference, all the while doing his best to avoid the optics of Sideswipe on the other side of the room who was blatantly trying to ignore Hot Rod and radiating hostility.

Finally getting his way, Hound thanked Springer, motioned for Sideswipe to join him and went to leave the bridge. He nodded at him as he went to pass Hot Rod.

"Make sure you come back." Hot Rod said, his optics giving away his concern.

"We will." Hound smiled in thanks and turned to leave.

"I will come back." Sideswipe growled quietly as he passed.

"Whatever, I won't mourn either way." Hot Rod snarled back, keeping his voice equally quiet.

Instantaneously as they flew at each other, Broadside grabbed Sideswipe as Springer simultaneously grabbed Hot Rod.

Hound stood between the two struggling 'bots. "Enough!" He glared at Sideswipe.

Hot Rod stopped struggling so Springer loosened his grip stood nearer his front and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let it drop," he said quietly. Hot Rod nodded gently and turned away with a final hostile look at Sideswipe.

Sideswipe violently shrugged Broadside off of him and stormed out. Hound looked apologetically at Springer, who acknowledged it with good grace before Hound turned and furiously caught up with Sideswipe at the shuttle. He was just about to open his mouth when Hoist came from around the side of the small craft.

"It's all up and running perfectly again. It should get me to the outer edge of the system with ease." He looked thoughtful. "Are you sure you won't need me. If they need medical attention…"

Hound cut him off. "Hoist, if they need help, they'll get it more effectively if you are here to treat them when we get them back to Cybertron. We can do enough to keep them alive until then, and Jetfire said they wouldn't be killed. I doubt the Quintessons would damage them that badly if they need them alive."

"You do have a valid point."

"Thank you." Hound said in a relieved voice. He wasn't sure if he could tolerate much more. "Hoist, the plan is that Springer will take the ship around AT1, once we give you the all clear we'll open the doors so you can leave and with any luck your departure will be hidden by the moon."

"I was under the impression I would be dropping you and Sideswipe on AT2."

"There's been a change of plan. There are a small number of escape pods, so me and Sideswipe will be taking one of those. I doubt they'll miss it but I'm hoping if they're watching anything it will be the main ship and we'll slip by unnoticed."

Hoist nodded and offered a hand to Hound which he took. "Good luck and Primus willing we'll meet up again once this is over."

"You too. We'll see you at the pick up, Hoist."

Hoist went back to the front of the shuttle to prepare to leave. Hound and Sideswipe crossed the shuttle into a small access door off to the side which led to a small line of escape pods. Keeping aware of his chronometer Hound stood patiently in the small room, not wanting to cramp himself up in the pod too early. Sideswipe leant up against the wall and crossed his arms. He looked over at Hound sullenly. "Might as well get it over with."

Hound had used his conversation with Hoist to give him valuable time to calm down. He mimicked Sideswipe's position just more relaxed and sighed. "To be honest, Sideswipe. I'm not sure I can be bothered with it."

Sideswipe looked at him in surprise. "I really thought you were going to verbally scrap me for a while there."

"I considered it. If Hoist hadn't turned up when he did, I would have done."

"So what happened?"

"I'd be tempted to say apathy but it's not quite true. Now you're away from Hot Rod, I don't have a problem."

Sideswipe grumbled and stared at the floor in front of his foot. He thought for a second. "You're not doing this to keep me away from Hot Rod are you?" His face showed visible distaste at having to say Hot Rod's name.

Hound raised his head slightly and laughed softly. "You think too much of yourself, 'Sides. You're not that much of a pain in the aft that I'd endanger my own life just to keep you away from Hot Rod." He turned his head to look at Sideswipe, annoyance briefly flashed in his optics. "But I'm warning you now; when and if we get out of this, if you give me an ounce of grief, I'll kick your aft myself."

Sideswipe slumped slightly. "I suppose you want to know why."

Hound shut off his optics for a second and just concentrated for an astrosecond to pretend Sideswipe wasn't there. Then he spoke, head still tilted toward the ceiling. "Not really, 'Sides. The problem between you and Hot Rod is really nothing to do with me."

He heard Sideswipe make a small sound of defeat and considered tuning out his audios too. It wasn't that he didn't care. He hadn't really noticed how well he'd learnt to read Sideswipe but he wasn't oblivious to the fact that despite their differences, there was a strange understanding between them. It was just that the whole thing had been trying, after defending his viewpoint from Springer and Sideswipe's loss of temper he just wanted some quiet before he got thrown into the thick of it again.

Instead he heard Sideswipe talking quietly.

"You know about Sunstreaker, right. I know you probably worked out I didn't rescue him when the humans had him. And I know I told you my reasons for wanting to find him. The problem is, is I never found him, not on Earth."

Hound didn't respond, he just listened as the voice continued.

"He's okay now. His dislike of humans is probably worse." he gave a humourless chuckle. "It took him a while to get over what happened. He was okay while the fighting continued. It was when it stopped.

"He's been a lot of work to keep sane sometimes. There was a lot of people in his head. He'd have coped better if they'd just tried dismantling him for parts rather than what they did. He didn't like humans 'violating his personal space'." There was a characteristic hint of sarcasm in those last words. Hound actually felt some mild relief at that, but still didn't speak.

Sideswipe continued. "But there was violating his personal space and there was what they did to his mind." He paused. "I didn't mind picking up the pieces, not really. He's my brother, what else was I supposed to do? I'm not sparkless.

"I think getting to Earth and proving myself made me realise I didn't need to prove myself to him. I left in that moment because I'd discovered something that meant more to me than he did."

Hound turned to look at Sideswipe, who was still looking at the floor. He didn't prompt him to continue, just patiently waited. They had some time until they could leave the ship and AT2 wasn't moving at a speed they couldn't easily catch up with.

There was a short silence that left Hound feeling slightly self conscious though he wasn't sure why. Sideswipe broke the silence. "I was always intending to go back for him. It was always my intention, but as you know, the universe went crazy. I never had the chance to go back for him." This time Sideswipe looked up from the floor to find Hound standing next to him, not close enough to be obtrusive but close enough for Sideswipe to appreciate the gesture.

"So what happened?" Hound said gently.

"Hot Rod found him." Sideswipe's voice was bitter was he clenched his fist. "I should have found him when I had the chance." He turned to look away, as if ashamed.

Hound knew Sideswipe's pride was a huge deal to him. Telling him his anger at Hot Rod was misguided and unfair would achieve nothing more than raise his ire and gain a fist in the faceplate. He knew it was already, he just needed to realise and accept it on his own terms. Hound pushed himself upright properly and walked over to the pod. "You coming?"

Sideswipe followed and climbed into the pod with Hound. They sat there in silence for a while. "Sunstreaker never really gave me any slag over it." He gave a more familiar smile. "Unlike me, I'd have never let him live it down." He grinned. "Nah, but he's probably been better about it then I've been to myself. It's ironic really, by not running to his rescue I proved myself to him without even trying."

That made Hound stop and wonder why when Sideswipe had mentioned Sunstreaker he seemed so vehement. His thoughts must have been etched into his expression because Sideswipe laughed and answered him.

"I suppose I've always felt so angry with myself and everything that happened to stop me from getting Sunstreaker out, it was easy to give the anger a target. It's not Hot Rod's fault that he happened to be awol on Earth already looking for Sunstreaker, it's just circumstance. It's not his fault that our universe pretty much chose to end at that point either."

A communication came in from Springer interrupting anything else that might have been said. They braced themselves for the pod to launch.

It would only take a few kliks for them to make landfall. So Sideswipe just shrugged, checked his weapons one last time and smiled. "Guess its showtime."

"We meet up with Springer's team one we've secured our guys and a pick up point."

"Do we have a designated pick up point?"

"No, we're going to have to give them something to find us with."

"So unless we get to them, it could be a one way trip even if we succeed?"

"Pretty much."

"Sounds like my kind of odds."

* * *

Hoist kept a careful speed in an attempt to not attract any attention, but knew he couldn't afford to keep himself too slow. The newly fitted communication system started beeping, letting him know there was an incoming message from Springer. He wondered what could be so important Springer felt the need to break comm silence.

He read the encrypted message, optics widening in shock. He wished he still had Springer's comm panel at his disposal; it could carry a far stronger signal and could punch through most of the solar wind Algol could throw at them. Instead he could only make do with what he had. He had no choice now but to leave the only flimsy protection of AT1. Feeling like there was no other choice left, the urgency of the message took care of that, he broke cover and made for somewhere he could send his message from.

* * *

It was dark. He was sure he had a body somewhere, but he wasn't currently aware of it. Information surrounded him, it was him. Alongside him ran more information; separate yet merging with his own information, yet the information was unknown to him. He tried searching for his body, but kept becoming swept up in these surging streams of data that were him, yet weren't. He felt a cry of frustration want to tear from him, but there was no body for it to come from, which frustrated him only further. They were going somewhere, him and these other streams. How could they be going somewhere when they weren't anywhere?

He tried to break free again, just to be swept back. He could feel, if feel was the right word, he wasn't sure…now he'd confused himself further so he gave up and stuck with the word feel. He could feel information, like particles being taken away, others being added. It tickled in an odd, detached way, made his mind itch if he tried to focus on it. He gave up, too unpleasant.

There were others here. The same as him, yet not. He tried getting someone's attention. It didn't work. Stupid Autobots. Autobots? He wondered what the word meant, trying to feel the word, like trying to taste something that had no flavour. He could feel it and see it, but something was missing. If he pulled the word too close he lost part of the information and it made him feel wrong, like part of it was missing, or part of him was missing.

Of course it did. He chided himself for the thought. He knew somewhere there was a solid mass he belonged in. Maybe he was still there and just couldn't find it. Frustration built up again. He knew that would just led to further frustration so he tried grasping words again. Most of them tasted…again he was unsure it was right, no, it was a good word for until he thought of a better one, they tasted…funny, like a sense was missing. He tried to rationalise this again, and failed. The dark was annoying him. He tried to take his frustration out on the streams that were around and merging in places with him. He shoved them away, or at least tried to. No one intruded into his…his…his what? Whatever it was he was trying to protect. He decided that he wasn't sure but it didn't matter right now.

More words came and went, more fragments of something else trying to take away and add bits and the ever moving stream kept him from focusing on anything that would give him an anchor. He blindly floated in the dark part of something he was trying hard to stay out of. They were still moving somewhere, yet he knew he wasn't moving. What was moving and where? He was moving it? He was doing a lot of things he didn't understand. So were these others he was trying to keep separate from this core he'd found. He searched for more words, each tasting strange or missing something. How long was he searching? He didn't know. Time had no meaning in this place. Yet it was important? Time, they'd been waiting. Who'd been waiting? Too many questions. Something had been waiting and for a long time. Longer that he'd seen? More unfamiliar words, more pointless information that was meaningless to him. He stopped trying to look and floated in the dark.

Then he realised it wasn't dark. It wasn't anything. Just information. With this realisation came one word that didn't have anything missing.

Starscream.

* * *

The Senator was not of large stature, but his countenance was regal and gave the impression of any height he lacked. The deep blue of his armour plating contrasted with the lighter shades of plating that covered the mechanisms of his joints and the upper part of his legs.

Out of habit, the first thing Optimus Prime always noticed was the lack of any faction symbol. He inclined his head respectfully in greeting. "Senator Seginus."

"Optimus. It is always good to see you."

Since his brief meeting with Ultra Magnus he'd found himself frequently at the memorial park, more often than not he was alone. Today he had been paid an unexpected visit. "Thank you. I did not expect to see any of the senate over this way."

The Senator smiled. "We all feel the need to pay our respects at times." He stopped to look at some of the sculptures. "I have many here I know, and much greater that number that I don't. It would be a terrible waste to see such loss of life again."

Prime just nodded allowing the Senator to lead the conversation for now.

"I was aware of your request of the Senate. It was a shame I was away from Iacon at the time and missed you. They ruled badly in their decision on the Wreckers."

Prime knew the Senator was offering him an opening, to bring the subject up without having to broach it himself. He wondered why the Senator was doing this, Prime was well known for voicing his beliefs when it came to the good of Cybertron. He decided to remain neutral in his response. "The Senate made the decision they thought was in the best interests at the time. If you had of been there you would have been overruled by the majority."

"That as may be, Optimus. But it was still an egregious mistake."

"The decision was made half a vorn ago, Senator. Numerous attempts to get the Senate to overturn the ruling have failed."

At that moment a small bot hurriedly caught up with them. "Prime, there is an incoming message for you. It's very weak and doesn't repeat but we've managed to locate its origin. It's in the Algol system, sir."

Prime turned to the Senator. "Please excuse me."

"May I accompany you? I am aware of the situation in Algol, I would like the opportunity to be kept abreast of matters."

Prime nodded and they both briskly followed the path back towards the buildings.

On entering his office he immediately accessed the message. Feeling relief at knowing Hoist was well he read the rest, the relief fading into concern. Now he understood why the message had come directly to him rather than through the normal protocols.

Senator Seginus moved forward a step. "The news is not as you hoped?"

Prime sat down at his desk and motioned the Senator to take a seat. Seginus was a newer member of the Senate, appointed after the war. As a more junior member of the Senate, he was one of the few that fought during the war rather than 'hiding behind the bodies of others' as he had more than once accused them of. He was, in general, liked by the other members but some of his views were unpopular.

"No it isn't. I need to speak with the Senate."

"Optimus, we've known each other for many vorns now. Talk to me and I'll see what I can do to help."

"You know of the mission to recover our missing scientists?"

"Of Course. Even if I hadn't of known at the time, the grumbling of the Senate for the Military Council authorising the use of the Secutor would have informed me." He softly chuckled at the thought. "I take it there has been an unforeseen development."

"The Quintessons."

Seginus' optics brightened in horrified shock. There was a heavy silence in the room until Seginus composed his thoughts enough to speak again. "It's been so long…why now?"

"I don't know. The Quintessons have long memories, their failed conquest of Cybertron is a slight they haven't forgotten."

Seginus looked at Prime with earnest optics. "The Matrix?"

Optimus knew Seginus was looking to him in his capacity as Prime. As far as they all knew, Alpha Trion had been the last Transformer that possessed living memory of a time when the Quintessons had temporarily gained a flimsy hold on Cybertron. "Silent on the subject - for now at least."

"How much time have we got?"

How Seginus knew the Quintessons were coming, Prime didn't know. Seginus while new to the Senate, was one of the few Transformers old enough to remember the old stories of a time when Cybertron was under alien control. "It appears they are confident in their methods, they don't seem to be in any hurry at all." Prime told Seginus all he'd learnt from the message from Hoist, but omitted any mention of the Wreckers for now. "I need to address the Senate. We need to be prepared for them."

"What do you plan to do?"

"Fight them."

A shocked expression briefly crossed Seginus' features. "No, you're right. There never has been any reasoning with the Quintessons. Where though?"

"This is why I need to speak to the Senate. I will need to discuss this with the Military Council too. We need to meet them, fight them away from Cybertron." Prime stood and steadily paced the office, arms crossed over his torso in thought.

"Summon Ultra Magnus," Seginus said. "I will call the Senate to convene so you may address them. I will convince as many as possible that an attack force sent to them would be preferable."

"Thank you, Seginus."

"It's no hardship, Optimus. As the Senator responsible for overseeing the Military council, this is one department I can aid you in."


End file.
